About Joy’s Garden
Synopsis
Edwin abruptly goes from absent baby daddy to sole caregiver of Joy, his seven-year-old daughter when her mom passes away. Can he find it in himself to give Joy the home she needs?
The Idea
Absent or unavailable fathers have become a common occurrence in my communities. I wasn’t at all aware of it growing up, but I seem to see it everywhere as an adult and possible mother. This awareness arrived as I also came to terms with my (wonderful) father’s fading health and mortality.
How would my children survive my absence should the worst happen, I wondered. I remember my mother voicing her worry when I was young.
Joy's Garden brings to life a moment where a ‘deadbeat’ dad encounters himself as his child's last hope. Could such a man teach himself to step up? Joy’s Garden is hopeful, tracing a path for how a child might survive a parent’s death, and how a maladapted man could learn to understand his daughter’s needs.
While this story could happen anywhere, I was interested in setting it in the housing developments that many middle-class families in Nairobi live in today: concrete boxes not well suited to fostering children's play, let alone their connections to the natural world.
Behind The Scenes On Set With Cast & Crew:
Festival Screenings:
Zanzibar International Film Festival (Zanzibar, Tanzania), July 23, 2021*World Premiere
Almagro International Film Festival (Almagro, Spain), August 1, 2021
Washington West Film Festival (Reston, Virginia), October 21, 2021
Cucalorus Film Festival (Wilmington, NC), November 11, 2021
Amity Short Film Festival (Istanbul, Turkey), December 4, 2021*Finalist
Pan African International Film Festival (Los Angeles, USA), April 25, 2022
Seattle Black Film Festival (Seattle, United States), May 1, 2022
Women of African Descent Film Festival (New York, United States) June 11, 2022
Love Your Shorts Film Festival (Sanford, United States)
Afrika Film Festival Köln (Köln, Germany), September 16, 2022
Silicon Valley African Film Festival (San Jose, United States), October 15, 2022
Manyatta Screenings (Marina, Kenya), October 28, 2022
Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival & Lecture Series (New York, United States) 2022
International African Film Festival in Argentina (FICAA) (Buenos Aires, Argentina) 2022
Black Harvest Film Festival (Chicago, United States) 2022
Encontro de Cinema Negro Zózimo Bulbul – Brazil (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) 2022
Award Nominations:
11th Kalasha Film & TV Awards
- Best Director - Ngwatilo Mawiyoo
- Best Scriptwriter - Ngwatilo Mawiyoo
- Best Editor - Franki Ashiruka
- Best Production Design - Hatibu Kelly
- Best Short Film - Joy’s Garden
3rd Women In Film Awards (Kenya)
- Best Director (Film) - Ngwatilo Mawiyoo
- Best Actress Kids - Torah Nato
- Best Editor - Franki Ashiruka
- Best Sound Recordist - Josephine Obudo