Leanne Welham
Pili
2018 / 83mins / Studio Soho Films
Pili lives in rural Tanzania, working the fields for less than $2 a day to feed her two children and struggling to manage her HIV positive status in secret.
When she is offered the chance to rent a sought-after market-stall, Pili is desperate to have it. But with only two days to get the deposit together, Pili is forced to make increasingly difficult decisions with ever deepening consequences. How much will she risk to change her life?
credits
Cast: Bello Rashid, Sikujua Rashid, Sesilia Florian Kimilia
Directed by: Leanne Welham
Written by: Leanne Welham
Produced by: Sophie Harman
Cinematographer: Craig Dean Devine
Sound: Tom Osborne & Tom Jenkins
Editor: Kant Pan
Original Music: Tim Morrish
buy dvd: http://bit.ly/_PILI
watch online: https://bit.ly/2OeiHi1
awards
BAFTA nomination for Outstanding Debut 2019
BIFA nomination for the Douglas Hickox Award for Debut Director 2018
Audience Award for Best Film at Dinard Film Festival 2018
Special Mention for the Screenplay Award at Dinard Film Festival 2018
press
"Leanne Welham's powerful drama tells an important story."
"Emotionally direct, check-your-privilege storytelling."
"A compassionate, imaginative boldness ... This is a thoughtful film." (Peter Bradshaw)
"Gruelling but lyrical Swahili-language drama with a Loach-like willingness to tackle big issues through small stories."
"With a vivid colour palette courtesy of cinematographer Craig Dean Devine and an engrossing lead performance from Rashid, Pili transforms a simple tale into a substantial film. It's a very moving story, if far from melodramatic - knotty moral quandaries such as these are the stuff of stimulating drama."