Technologies for Building Relationships to Advance Equity

Nigerian filmmaker, Joel 'Kachi’ Benson had a screening of his Virtual Reality film, Daughters of Chibok, at Rhodes House this month. The film focuses on Yana Galang, a mother and community leader in the Chibok community in Nigeria. Her daughter, Rifkatu, was one the 276 girls that were kidnapped in 2014, and to date, Yana is still waiting for her return. However, this tragedy has not stopped Yana's commitment and drive to see the children of Chibok educated.

Kachi’s work revolves primarily around social impact storytelling, using both 2D and VR technology to tell stories across Nigeria and Africa. Daughters of Chibok, his second VR film, won the Venice Lion for Best Immersive Story at the 76th Venice Film Festival, making him the first African to win the award in that category.

Exactly one year ago, Joel attended the Atlantic Institute’s Inaugural African Regional Initiative Convening in Nairobi, Kenya to support Fellows and leverage their proximity for sharing ideas for meeting challenges, catalysing collaboration and action, while accelerating development. He participated in the Africa's Future

Transformed? The Rise of Emerging Technologies panel and presented a screening of his virtual reality documentary, “Noah’s Raft”.

The convening also explored the best technologies for building relationships with values-aligned, relevant partners including the Rhodes Scholars whose Director of Lifelong Programmes, is Sorina Campean.

Following last week’s screening at Rhodes House, Sorina sat down with Kachi and began by asking him about first meeting him in Nairobi one year ago. Below is a transcript of their conversation:

Sorina: Kachi, first of all thank you so much. I’m so excited and so hyped after being in the room yesterday. And it just makes me think back of how we met. I think it’s maybe one year ago now?

Kachi: It is. Was it May?

Sorina: Exactly. We’ve met in Nairobi. And as you – as I’ve told you before, I was there as a guest of the Atlantic Institute attending their Africa Regional Convening. Main point of that was to strengthen the partnership of the Rhodes Trust with the Atlantic Institute, giving us an opportunity to observe the way they work, the way they think about building community. And always with future synergies in mind, and with the main purpose of us learning from each other.

And I got the – I had the great chance of being exposed to the work that you do there. And speaking of synergies, for me that triggered the connection to our Film Fora series, which is something that we’ve been doing for the past three years or so, where we – each year we screen a social impact movie and then we invite either somebody who’s featured in the movie or part of the team working on the respective movie to come to Oxford and engage with the community here.

So delighted you could be one of those people, with Daughters of Chibok and Mothers of Chibok. For the first time we had both a 2D movie and a 3D movie. But tell me how it was for you, just seeing this happen. It feels like we’ve been working on it for three years, not one.

Kachi: Well, nice to meet again after such a long time. I think it’s been a wonderful experience. It’s interesting because this is – it’s something I’ve always pictured in my head, of having this almost – you could call it a 360-degree experience, because you missed out the third part of the experience.

Sorina:    That’s true.

Kachi: Which is everybody got to meet with the woman, the actual person who was in the film. And then there was a photo exhibition as well. And so it all just came together. And I think it’s – you come away – I think we gave the viewers or the people who attended this unique opportunity to experience the multidimensional nature of the story. And just to see how it all came together. I’m really touched and humbled by the opportunity that you guys gave us to share this with your community. I’m happy that I was invited to Nairobi, and I accepted the invitation and we got to meet. And here we are a year later, being able to share this with your community. And I think this has been great.

Sorina: A full house, right? Full house for the VR screening, and then also for –

Kachi: Yeah, and everyone pretty much – we had a decent crowd stay back for the Q&A. And even though we spent more time – but people were really – you could tell that people were really engaged, and they wanted to know more. Which is important because I guess when you make social impact stories, there is a point to them. It’s not just about making it. It’s about what happens afterwards, what are the conversations that happen afterwards, what are the debates that happen afterwards, what are the actions that happen afterwards. And how can these conversations move people to action, you know? So yeah, it’s great all round. I don’t have any complaints whatsoever.

Sorina: Tell me a bit about the film itself. If you hadn’t highlighted this story, who would have? And speak a little bit to the importance in your view of the work that you’ve done with this project.

Kachi: With the Chibok stories, if we go back to the beginning, for me it was about seeking truth. When the girls were kidnapped in 2014, I remember very clearly that the federal government of Nigeria had a very different narrative from the community. Who also had a very different narrative from the local press, who had a different narrative from the international press. So it was a very confusing state of affairs. You couldn’t tell who was saying the truth. You couldn’t tell what was propaganda, what was truth, what was agenda-driven.

And so I felt that as a storyteller, I was very curious. I wanted to know more. But I couldn’t get the opportunity to go until four years later, 2018, when I went. And I was – I met with one of the women, the mothers. And we had a long, heartfelt conversation. And I felt that “OK, you know what? I want to present a story that – from this woman’s perspective, from a mother’s perspective. I want to present that to the world.”

Obviously, the question then was, “OK, so how do you present this story to the world?”, right? I was in Chibok at the time. And just being Chibok and sitting in this woman’s hut, it felt so real. But the question was, “How do I transport this realness to my audience?” And virtual reality seemed at the time the best tool to do that, because I really – for me if I had my way, I would hire a bus and put everyone on the bus and say, “Let’s go to Chibok. Let’s go sit with these women, and let’s hear them share their stories.” But I couldn’t do that. I mean, I can’t do that. It’s not possible.

Sorina: It’s not scalable.

Kachi: Exactly. So I said, “OK, you know what? Let’s do the reverse then. Let’s take Chibok to them.” And VR seemed like the perfect tool. I had tested it before on a previous story, and it worked. And so I decided, “OK, let’s do this.” So that’s how we started. We made the VR film. It was very well-received. People could feel it. Everyone kept saying, “Thank you for reminding us about this story,” because it was already slipping away from the public consciousness. But after making it, I also realised that as beautiful as the technology was/is, it still has its limitations in terms of access.

Especially in remote areas. But beyond that, I also wanted to tell a more nuanced story, still with Chibok. And so I decided to go back in 2021, to tell another story, a much longer story, using 2D technology – just regular 2D. And that took us – it was a three-year journey to make the film. And why is the Chibok story important? It’s a story that deals with equality, equity, access to education ... You understand me? And I feel like the Chibok narrative is not peculiar to just Chibok. There are many parts of the world where women/girls/under-served people are facing prejudice and denied access to education.

And I think that there are lessons that could be learned from the mothers of Chibok in how just sheer personal resilience is a weapon that you can hone and use to get what you want. These women are doing something on their own in its most simplistic form – fighting terrorism at its most basic. Just saying, “We won’t give in. We won’t give up. We will continue to do this.” And I think that there are lessons to be learned from that experience. I’m every day inspired just by their sheer strength and their resolve to just keep doing this. And so I felt it was an important story to share, of the women who are my people. I see them as my mothers and my sisters. And I’m happy that it’s out in the world. I’m happy that we got the support to make it, and I’m happy that we got the support to show it here.

Sorina: So what have been some of the reactions to the movies locally and internationally as well? Let’s touch – if we can continue to speak in parallel about both, because I think the VR film is also really important, and I will want to come back to that one with some particular questions around the technology.

Kachi: Well, I think for both of them, they’re really – they’ve been very well-received. Obviously with Daughters of Chibok, we had – it played at Venice. It won the Venice Lion, which was a very prestigious award. And I guess a testament to the power of the story itself. And through that, we were also able to – it was very interesting. Nine out of 10 people would say to me, “What can I do?” And that was so enlightening for me. So through the film, we were able to bring a lot of support to the community, both in terms of access to solar power so that the kids could extend their reading hours, access to funding for the women to keep farming on their farms, access to funding to send some of the kids to school. So that was a really beautiful outcome for us with Daughters of Chibok.

When you spill over into Mothers of Chibok, I think one of the things that people always tell me is that “oh wow, this place looks so beautiful.” But something more important that they say is, “I actually don’t feel pity for these women. I feel I’m inspired by their strength.” And that was an original desire from the beginning when I started to make this film, which was that because I’m so inspired by their strength, how can this film be used to inspire other people? And how can people watch this film and come away not feeling that sense of despair and hopelessness, but feeling like, “Oh wow, I’m so inspired by these women now. How can I be part of supporting them to do even more?” Right? So yeah, feedback all around has been positive.

We’re really working on a big project now as a result of the film, in the community. Just something that is more scalable and more sustainable. I can share more details later if you want but yeah, it’s something that we’re really excited about.  

So basically what we’re doing right now is – we’re in the process of making a film. I realise that OK, these women are farmers. That’s all they do. And this is how they fight back. The proceeds of their harvest are what they use to send their kids to school. The main crop that they plant is peanuts. But what happens to that? They sell these peanuts in its raw form. So they’re unable to process it and increase their profit margin. And they have these middlemen who offer them whatever they can offer them, and they just take it. And all of that is in the film.

So I said to myself, “OK, so how do we switch the dynamics here? How do we put the power back in the hands of these women?” So what we’re doing now is sort of like a three-fold intervention where first of all we give them training on more modern farming methods. Then we provide them with the seedlings, the fertiliser, the manure, all of that stuff. And the training on how to use it. With what we’ve done or what we’re doing, we hope that they can increase their yield by between 60 to 70 per cent. Now when that yield comes, we then provide them with proper storage facilities and training as well. How do you store these things properly, right? And then how do you process it into a semi-finished product? So all of that is going to happen.

And then the third part of it is that we’re working with agro-processing experts who will then make the linkages to the market. So they’re able to sell this – they cut out the middlemen, and they sell directly to people who are going to use them, right? And pay a fair market price for that. So yeah, I’m so excited and fascinated about ... I have no clue about agriculture. But this is so interesting for me, because I’m learning – we’re working with a team of agri-experts and soil technicians who are doing the training. We’re working with a local university in Nigeria, and they are also very excited about it. We just feel like this could be an opportunity to change the narrative of the community.

Sorina: Well, and it’s such a beautiful example of community coming together about a meaningful project, a meaningful cause to support. And I presume it’s safe to say that this was a direct result of the – of you working in that community, filming there for years, becoming family almost, with these women.

And now back to your point around – the film didn’t only highlight the issue, but also it inspired solutions and it inspired people to put their hands up and say, “Hey, how can I help?” So it’s such a beautiful example of that. And on our side, we hope that the fact that you guys managed to be here in Oxford and you engaged with the community here, will potentially inspire more people, members of the Rhodes community or the Atlantic community or just the broader Oxford ecosystem, to say, “How can we help?” Even with –

Kachi: Yeah, we would love that. Even if it’s just expert knowledge. You know, like, “How can we do this better?” One of the things that we’re constantly thinking about is how can we continue to increase and improve on the community engagement and community ownership of something like this. So I like to say I’m just a filmmaker who is just passionate about using my films to make a difference in these communities. And so I would always rely on the experts, you understand me? Whether it’s experts in community engagement, experts in agriculture, experts in marketing or fundraising or whatever it is. But as long as we can continue to do stuff like this that’s – that makes putting all the parameters and all the things that ensure that this is a success – I think it’s great for all of us.

Sorina: So this highlights quite well why partnership is important. And it speaks to the work that the Rhodes Trust and the Atlantic Institute have been doing over the years. And we hope to be able to continue that and inspire our communities to work closer together. Going back to the VR, you visited the XR lab that the Atlantic Institute – well, that the Rhodes House is hosting for the Atlantic Institute. Can you tell me what’s the potential that you see in that space to inspire and engage members of the Atlantic community, the Rhodes community, of the Oxford ecosystem ...? Because you were right –perhaps you cannot take people in planes or buses and fly them over across the world to see what’s happening. But having the space like that, how do you think can contribute instead?

Kachi: I think that a space like that holds huge potential for bringing stories from far-off places and making them so real to this community here. Richard Shahryar Smith, XR Specialist at the Institute and the Trust, and I were just chatting yesterday while the people were watching Daughters of Chibok. And he was like, “It’s almost like you’re making this experience so real for them.”

So I think that yes, you might be in Oxford, in Rhodes House, but you could be 10,000 miles away. That technology can transport you to different parts of the world where different things are happening and you are experiencing different things. [So it does hold a lot of potential for bringing stories from far-off places to – just to this place.

And I really hope that it goes on. And I don’t know what your structure is in terms of – it’s one thing to have the space and access to the technology. It’s another thing to have the stories. That’s the most important part really. And so the technology – access to the technology and the space should also run parallel with access to the stories, the right stories, that can move people – inspire people and move them to action.

Sorina: Yeah, I love – and this is one of the – one of my favourite spaces at Rhodes House. And we’re so grateful for the partnership of the Atlantic Institute and the team there. And we always try to incorporate the usage of the XR lab into programming that we run for the community, especially some of our forums. For example, we had Sophia the robot. I don’t know if you’ve heard of it. It’s the first humanoid robot in the world. She has a bank account. She wears clothes like us. And we had her as a speaker. And then it turns out that there had been a VR movie made of her and the founder. But they didn’t know about it. And so in the following year, we were able to screen that in – well, to play that in the XR Lab. So all these quirky coincidences, I think they make our work so much more beautiful.

And the other aspect of VR movies that I love is that when you watch a movie in 2D, you are all sat in rows observing it from the same angle. And it’s an angle that’s dictated to you by –

Kachi: Right. The director. Exactly.

Sorina: the filmmaker, the director. Right? Whereas when you’re engaging with a VR film, I think you have more –

Kachi: You choose your perspective, yeah.

Sorina: freedom to define the angles that you want to take, the perspective that you want to take. So it leaves a place for extra creativity, and then it makes I think the conversation so much richer.

Kachi: Totally. I have an idea.

Sorina: Fabulous. Well, I think the – my perhaps last question would be around how do you see this kind of work – you know, 2D/3D – evolving. And then also contributed to the pursuit of equity/fairness/justice. What do you think will happen in the future?

Kachi: With XR?

Sorina: Personally I’m interested in both. What do you think the future –

Kachi: With storytelling?

Sorina: holds for storytelling, be it in 2D or 3D? But with the particular focus of advancing fairness/justice/equity?

Kachi: I think that the potential is huge. Advancing equity and fairness in society will remain for the foreseeable future an ongoing fight.

Sorina: Fight, yeah.

Kachi: And so the role of storytelling as a tool in the arsenal for fighting or advancing equity will always remain important. Storytelling will always remain important. It’s one of the oldest forms of communication. It’s how we connect with each other. And so using it as a tool to have conversations around advancing equity in society cannot be underestimated. And so I think that the – I guess the – maybe a more important question to ask or a more relevant question to ask would be how do we evolve in the way stories are told and how they are told, right? To evolve with the times.

There’s a whole big conversation around AI – what role does it play in storytelling? What role can it play in storytelling? What role can it play in making our stories even more nuanced and more direct and more focused in the fight against inequality in society?

So it’s a – it’s almost like we’re entering a whole new era, a whole new chapter. And I’m excited about the opportunities and the prospects to explore and research and figure out new ways that we can use story to continue to advance the work that ensures that we have a fairer and more equitable society.

Sorina: But in the meantime, we’ll be here waiting for your next story to come out.

Thank you so much again.

Kachi: Thanks, Sorina. It was really cool.

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