In a small, remote mountain top primary school in the Kenyan bush, hundreds of children are jostling for a chance for the free education newly promised by the Kenyan government. One new applicant causes astonishment when he knocks on the door of the school.
He is Maruge, an old Mau Mau veteran in his eighties, who is desperate to learn to read at this late stage of his life. He fought for the liberation of his country and now feels he must have the chance of an education so long denied - even if it means sitting in a
classroom alongside six-year-olds.
Full of vitality and humour, the film explores the remarkable relationships Maruge builds with his classmates some eighty years his junior. Through Maruge's journey, we are taken back to the shocking untold story of British colonial rule 50 years earlier where Maruge fought for the freedom of his country, eventually ending up in the extreme and harsh conditions of the British detention camps.
Director: Justin Chadwick
Country: England, Kenya
Language: English
Rating: PG-13
Saturday, September 3, 7:30 pm
Sunday, September 4, 2:00 pm (Matinee)
People's Choice Award, Toronto International Film Festival, 2010
Audience Award, Tribeca Doha Film Festival, 2010
Best Feature, Palm Springs International Film Festival, 2011
Audience Award, Sedona International Film Festival, 2011
"The First Grader ... seamlessly combines story and place to create an illuminating beacon for our time."
Gregg Chadwick, New York Times
"...a film that appeals and involves."
Sukhdev Sandhu, Daily Telegraph
