FILM - Pili

With introduction by Sophie Harman, Producer. 

Pili lives in rural Tanzania, working the fields for less than $2 a day to feed her two children and struggling to manage her HIV-positive status in secret.   When she is offered the chance to rent a sought-after market-stall, Pili is desperate to have it. But with only two days to get the deposit together, Pili is forced to make increasingly difficult decisions with ever-deepening consequences. How much will she risk to change her life?

Pili is the first ever social-realist feature film to focus on women living with HIV in East Africa. It is one of the few films made in Africa that features an ensemble female cast and that uses almost entirely non-actors. The process of making the film was also unique. From the close collaboration with the women throughout the development of the story, to the casting process and the mixture of improvisation and scripted techniques used during the shoot. Pili is a singular collaboration between the filmmakers and the community, to tell the story of the community by the people who live there. 

Drama/UK/Swahili/83 minutes/2017
Director: Leanne Welham
Producer: Sophie Harman