The UK’s Sovereign and Scala Productions, in association with Prestige Films, have begun production on Small Gods, a feature film about the landless Batwa people of Africaʼs Great Lakes region, directed by Asher Rosen and Ezra Mugisha.
Small Gods tells the story of Florenz, a struggling single mother, and Bizimana, a charismatic street performer, who both sing for international tourists in their fight to rise above the cycle of poverty. When a crisis strikes, it threatens their growing hopes for a better future.
The feature is inspired by the lives of its two protagonists and lead actors, Florenz Mariserena and Bizimana Hussain. The Batwa have been evicted from their ancestral forests in the name of conservation so, to eke out a living, many perform their cultureʼs songs, stories, and dances for tourists – the same tourists whose presence has led to their evictions.
The cast of Small Gods includes Bizimana Hussain, Florenz Mariserena and Tuyi Mariserena. The film is produced by Ian Prior, Dan Wechsler and Andreas Roald. Innocent Niyonzima co-produces.
“Small Gods tells a vitally important and inspirational story about an indigenous people that have an uncharacteristically large impact on the international world, a fact which is unknown to so many of us,” said Andreas Roald, Sovereign CEO and Prestige Films director.
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