Judging from the enthusiasm emitting from the talent that I spoke to
The First Grader, which had it's London Film Festival Premiere on Tuesday 26th October, is going to be something rather special. Set and filmed in Kenya it tells the inspirational true life story of Maruge, an illiterate 84 year old villager who finally gets an opportunity to for fill his life-long dream to receive an education when a government initiative introduces free primary schooling 'for all'. The First Grader has already received critical acclaim for the performances of its two major leads:
Naomie Harris (of 28 Days Later and Pirates of the Caribbean series fame) playing the passionate teacher who warms to the cause of former Mau-Mau fighter Maruge; who is brought to life with heartfelt naturalism by former journalist/sometime actor
Oliver Litondo. Director
Justin Chadwick (The Other Boleyn Girl) has also received praise for turning the potentially cliché ridden 'inspiring teacher' tale into something unique and refreshing. Making use of a real school and its real pupils appears to have positively brushed off on the film; gracing it a rare authenticity "...very natural acting, {the children} believed in everything they were taught..." says Litondo. "...they believed Naomie Harris, was their real teacher, in fact when we finally wrapped up they were sad and said wheres our teacher going?... Justin the director, they loved him so much, he was not so much a director but a part of the community, a part of the kids, a part of the teachers...in the morning they would come to him and say {to Justin} teacher, teacher to {get him to} mark the books...They contributed immensely to my acting and to the production of the film."
For Chadwick the choice of Litondo was instinctual
"I met him and I was like 'he's the man, the kids are going to absolutely love him...such a good, warm-hearted gorgeous man, really articulate about how he saw education...with his own feelings and views and you know all those children just responded to him and that was just them, all those looks...really natural."
Naomie Harris has worked under the helm of such movie maestros as Michael Mann, Danny Boyle and Gore Verbinski but
The First Grader
was an opportunity to take a break from big budget Hollywood movies to try something small and intimate and to continue to work with talent who aren't afraid to push her to her best:
"as a director {Justin's} never going to just let anything go if its not good enough, he wants it to be the best it can possibly be so he really pushes you and challenges you and I love that because I am not happy unless I have done my best either. For me, theres no point in doing something if its just good enough. You know it was lovely working with someone who was equally a perfectionist as I am."
Look out for a complete interview report on
The First Grader when the film receives its UK release.