December 2011 shoot in Freetown & Bo

Leone Stars directors Allan Tong and Ngardy Conteh with cinematographer Colin Akoon returned to Toronto on Christmas Eve following a two-week shoot in Sierra Leone. Their ever-reliable "fixer" Hash Magona was the fourth member of the crew. The trip to the capital of Freetown plus additional days in the inland city of Bo marks the second voyage by the Leone Stars crew. Other shoots will follow, but for now here are some images of this exciting trip:

Ngardy, Colin & Hash preparing to film from the back of a moving car
winding through downtown streets in Freetown

Colin capturing kids playing the national pastime on Aberdeen Beach,
Freetown at sundown

Allan with Omaru (left) and his teammates in the eastern city of Bo after practice

Shooting B-roll of a pile of garbage burning off the side of the road in downtown Freetown. Sierra Leoneans don't enjoy garbage pick-up, so they burn it, including a TV set in this blaze.

Video: CBC Soccer Day in Canada Interview

Leone Stars directors Allan Tong & Ngardy Conteh spoke to CBC-TV's Scott Russell on July 9:

Trailer (May 2011)

January 26, 2012 update: A new trailer, absorbing footage from our December 2011 shoot, will be uploaded shortly. This trailer here was cut with footage shot in March 2011. Enjoy.

Leone Stars Trailer from LeoneStarsDoc on Vimeo.

video: the crew sets up in Bo province

Here's a quick and dirty video of the crew setting up in Bo, shot by photographer and production assistant Johnny Vong. That's co-director Ngardy Conteh holding the boom mic, and cinematographer Colin Akoon wearing the camera on a Steadicam:

A week of filming: Ngardy's notes

Ngardy and the crew have returned to Freetown after filming in the countryside for most of last week. They were away from internet, which is unheard of outside the capital. Filming has been round-the-clock in the humidity of west Africa and the crew has shown amazing resilience. Here are Ngardy's notes:

Tuesday
Went to Bo, about a four-hour journey including the stops along the way. We met the amputee team in Bo. They are the national champs (won the first national competition in December) and made me their honourary team manager.


Wednesday
Visited my Grandpa. Very emotional as it was my first time meeting him and he is very old now. Spent the afternoon interviewing two members of the Bo team.

Thursday
Shot some B-roll in Bo before traveling to Mattru Jong on a very bumpy three-hour ride. Met my Grandmother, haven't seen her in at least 5 years. Very joyous.

Friday
I was able to interview a former solider from the Kamajor Militia who gave good insight into the civil war. Almost seven hours back to Freetown, exhausted!!

Saturday
Back in the capital to shoot the practice of the Freetown team.

Sunday
Colin and I rigged the movcam to the car and drove around to get B-roll.

One step closer to the Leone Stars

the players in Freetown, fall 2010

Ngardy has been busy since stepping off her transatlantic flight last week. She writes from a noisy internet cafe in Freetown:

I spoke with soccer team spokesperson Wizzy. We are going to meet up to discuss the game plan for shooting. The team wasn't able to practice last Saturday as they usually do, because the city was shut down for cleaning. All the roads are blocked once a month to clean the streets. However, Wizzy says the players are excited and will definitely hold a practice next Saturday.

All in all, I am in very good hands and confident I'll find some priceless footage. Very excited.

Ngardy

6 Questions with Johnny Vong

1) You're volunteering to help as a production assistant on this shoot. How come?

Strange, lovely, impeccable timing. I was in Barbuda for Ngardy's wedding in January when she told me that this project was all ready to go... crew, money, everything was coming together. I was very happy and excited for her. When I returned to Toronto, I got the unfortunate news that I've been laid off from my full time job....After telling her my story, I simply asked if I could come along with her to Sierra Leone. I agreed to pay for everything including my plane ticket with whatever money I had saved up. We both agreed: I was crazy.

2) In two sentences tell us about yourself.

I am a filmmaker, photographer, devoted cinephile. I'm adventure-seeking, energetic and passionate.

3) How do you know Ngardy?

We met while working together at a small production company many years ago.

4) How are you preparing?

I am reading a lot about the people and history of Sierra Leone right now. There's a lot of emotional territory for me to explore, and I know this research will greatly inform the thematic ideas around the images I capture.

5) Any expectations of what you'll see and experience?
Sierra Leone is one of the poorest countries in the world, and the quality of life there is very low. I'm not expecting a holiday retreat. I'm expecting to experience first-hand what life in a country so recently ravaged by war, corruption and violence really feels like.

6) What do you intend to shoot?
We'll be shuttling back and forth between a quiet village and the busy city mayhem of Freetown. It's been ten years since the end of civil war, so it's an incredible opportunity to be able to capture the mood and atmosphere of a country rebuilding, with all its optimism as well as heartbreak. I will be using the images I capture from this project for a personal project...a kind of Chris Marker style film, a hybrid of narrative fiction and documentary, something kind of poetic, essayist or travelogue in form and genre.

Donate to the LEONE STARS documentary

If you wish to donate to the LEONE STARS documentary, please click on the PayPal link to begin the process. A portion of all moneys raised will go directly to the amputee soccer players of Sierra Leone:

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.