Filming wraps in Freetown

Co-director Ngardy Conteh (in profile) and cinematographer Colin Akoon prepare to film inside a player's home, a windowless 64-square-foot room.

 

Leone Stars just wrapped up filming in Sierra Leone.  The fourth and last shoot took place earlier this month in steamy weather, topping 42C each day and 36C at night on the humidex, mostly in the capital of Freetown.  For nearly two weeks, co-directors Ngardy Conteh and Allan Tong with cinematographer Colin Akoon and local fixer Hashmiyun Magona filmed various amputee soccer players at their homes and workplaces, streets and villages.  Here are some images from the shoot:

The Freetown team sqaures off against the Bo team on their turf, in the interior of the country.  Final score: 1-1.

Freetown captain, Bornor, training to be a generator repairman.  
Almost all Sierra Leoneans run diesel-powered generators, because the electric grid is so unreliable.

Cinematographer Colin Akoon mounts a light steadicam unit to the back of a moving motorcycle taxi ("okada") 
to follow an amputee also travelling by okada.

Mohammed of Freetown's team being interviewed in his office, owned by a German company.  
Mohammed supports a young child alone.

The aunt of the Bo provincial team captain, Umaru, interviewed as she cooks in her smoky hut.  
From top left to lower left: intern Amanta, cinematographer Colin Akoon, fixer Hashmiyun "Hash" Magona 
and co-director Ngardy Conteh.

Following Bornor's weekly jog from the back of our Toyota 4x4.  
Amid traffic, Bornor runs for one hour from his home in Freetown's Leceister Peak to Aberdeen Beach.

The steering wheel of a mini-bus in Freetown.

Cinematographer Colin Akoon panning atop a hill near Fort Street in downtown Freetown.  
In one minute, he will be covered in heavy rain.

Fixer extraordinaire, Hashmiyun "Hash" Magona

A shantytown in overcrowded Freetown where few enjoy running water and where cholera struck last summer.

The sun sets over Aberdeen Beach as the Freetown amputees wind down their Sunday practice.

All photos by Allan Tong and cannot be reproduced without Allan's strict permission.

Filming the Saturday practice & visiting Bono Kabo

Ngardy has sent notes about filming the weekly team practice last Saturday on Aberdeen Beach in Freetown. The beach rests on the shores of the Atlantic and is the only time each week when all the players meet. Otherwise it's extremely difficult for Ngardy to reach the players since hardly any have a phone of any kind, never mind access to e-mail.

Some shots Colin took, mostly Movcam*:

* team publicist Wizzy welcomed me to the team

* Wizzy introduced me to every member of the team

* the team sang their song, then surrounded me singing it

* coach talking to team, on sideline and in the middle of the beach pitch, coaching, yelling

* scrimmage/practice games, they split into 3 team and rotated playing 10-15 minute informal games at a time

* we lav-miked [portable microphone attached to person] the coach during warm-ups and drills and various players (including Bono Kabo) during the scrimmage games

* players after practice putting on their prosthetic legs, chatting

Game last fall. Since uploading images from Sierra Leone is slow, Ngardy's images will be sent later

After practice we took a break to dump footage [to portable hard drives so that the camera had film new footage] and eat lunch. Then we went to Aberdeen road where seven members of the team live.

Also that weekend, the crew visited the site of the refugee camp where the team met in 2001 and formed the club. Why are some players still living here, long after the end of the war? The camp is gone, but they're still on this spot?

Ngardy: They were very vocal about this. They have nowhere else to go--waiting for a donor or an angel to get them out of there. Or the gov't to care.

Ngardy then visited the home of one of the players, Bono Kabo. After listening to Fiona Aboud's 2007 interviews I suggested that Gad interview him. He sound articulate, passionate and intelligent.

Bono, went to his place, a two-bedroom house but with no electricity or running water. He built it himself. His eldest child is in boarding school so she wasn't around.

We spent about four hours with him. Colin followed me and him on Steadicam as we walked to his house. Mostly talked about how he got his house. Shot him while he made a meal for his kids outside on coal pots.

His interview was very captivating. He wept when talking about becoming a soldier, speaking in detail about that experience, and losing his limb.

More to come....

Shooting in Freetown: Ngardy's notes

Ngardy writes from an internet cafe in Freetown. Messages from her lately have come from her cell phone across the Atlantic to Allan. As she explains:

So, we haven't been to the internet cuz we've been exhausted at the end of everyday shooting and it is quite an effort to get to the cafe.

Shooting from 9-6 everyday - in the hot sun - very exhausting. Getting to be late after dumping the footage to hard drive, getting used to the dogs, roosters, and the 5-hr time difference has also impacted all of our sleep [DP Colin Akoon & PA Johnny Vong]. But spirits are high and we're having an incredible experience.

Shooting in public: pretty much you have to seek permission before you can even hold a camera in public if you are not a local. The general feeling is that foreign media has come here and exploited peoples' images. Understandable.

Yesterday, we had [team publicist] Wizzy and some team members walk around the streets. Since they were are focus and this took place around their office people we were fine shooting the cameras in public.

7 Things You Should Know about Sierra Leone

Chances are you don't know anything about Sierra Leone except that it's somewhere in Africa. This post is to teach you the basics of this nation, where our film crew is heading from
March 15 to 30. Some here are some tidbits you should know:

1) Sierra Leone is roughly the size and population of the Golden Horseshoe
of southern Ontario.

2) The country was once a British colony and the hub of the transatlantic slave trade.

3) The hills surrounding what is now Freetown Harbour were called Serra de Leão by early Portuguese explorers, meaning "Lion Mountains." That's how the country got its name.


4) Like many African countries, Sierra Leone is divided into a rainy season (from May to November) and a dry season (December to April). That's why our crew has chosen to
film in March.

5) Based on per-capita GDP (the wealth of a nation divided by population), Sierra Leone is often ranked the poorest or second-poorest country on Earth.

6) Ironically, Sierra Leone is one of the top 10 diamond-producing nations in the world.

7) Diamonds played a key role in the bloody civil war of 1991-2002. The amputee soccer team lost their limbs during those dark years, and that era is the focus of the film, LEONE STARS.

Leone Stars gearing up for World Amputee Football Championships

Sierra Leone's Single Leg Amputee Sports Club (SLASC) is fundraising so they can return to the World Amputee Football Championships taking place in Crespo, Argentina from October 14– 26.

If they raise the needed funds for flights and accomodations, the Leone Stars will send 16 amputee players and four staff, including coaches. To help The SLASC please contact team spokesman Albert Mustapha.

Some 18 teams, including three first-time competitors, will compete for top honors in the world tournament. The Leone Stars, who are drawn from the SLASC are placed in Group D alongside Russia, England and Angola.

World Cup 2010 marks the 30th anniversary of the sport of amputee football (soccer), started in 1980 by Don Bennett of Seattle, Washington, USA. The tournament is organized by the World Amputee Football Federation (WAFF) and Federation of Amputees in Argentina which has invited SLASC to participate. This will be the fourth world amputee football championship that SLASC will compete in.

The players have been feverishly practicing on the beaches of Freetown as seen in these photos.

Part of the proceeds of the online fundraiser to support a documentary about the team will go to the team. To donate, please visit Kickstarter.com.