CURRICULUM VITAE Dr. Rachael Diang a (PhD) Official Address: Languages: Department of Theatre Arts and Film Technology Kenyatta University P.O. Box 43844, Nairobi, Kenya Email: diang a.rachael@ku.ac.ke English (Excellent), Kiswahili (Excellent) French (Basic) ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS PhD (Film Technology), MA (Literature, with a thesis on Film Studies), B.Ed (English/Literature) OTHER RELEVANT TRAININGS Date Institution Course (Description) July August 2008 Maisha Filmmaker s Mentor-led, hands-on training on Lab, Kampala - Uganda screenwriting, film directing and film February - March Infotech Training 2007 Centre, Nairobi 2006 To date Alliance Francaise de Nairobi February May Kenyatta University 2001 Computer Centre production. Certificate in Desktop Publishing A course leading to Diploma in French Certificate in Computer Applications WORK EXPERIENCE Current Employment since August 2013 Film Technology Lecturer, Teaching Film Studies/Film Production at the Department of Theatre Arts and Film Technology, Kenyatta University. My main research/teaching interests are in African Cinema, Research Methods, Screenwriting, film production and Film Theory/Criticism. August 2009 August 2013: Tutorial Fellow (Film Technology), Department of Theatre Arts and Film Technology, Kenyatta University. Teaching Responsibilities 1. Master of Arts (Film Studies) Courses taught are: Advanced Film Theory, Advanced Film Directing, Current Trends in Film, African Film and Kenyan Film. 2. Bachelor of Arts (Film Technology) Courses taught: Film for Development, Film Theory and Criticism, Media and Society, History of Drama in East Africa
Research Methods, Screenwriting I and II, Film and Social Change, Film Adjudication, African Cinema and East African Cinema May August 2009: Film Research Assistant at Twaweza Communications, Nairobi, Kenya. (Researched for the Production of an award winning documentary film, History of Film in Kenya, 1909-2009) 2008-2009: Part-time Lecturer at the Department of Theatre Arts and Film Technology, Kenyatta University 2008 2009: Part-time Lecturer at the Department of Literature, Kenyatta University 2008-2009: Consultant Editor for Macmillan Publishers, Kenya. 2006-2007: Editorial Assistant at Longhorn Publishers Limited, Nairobi, Kenya (Edited a series of twelve pupils books on HIV/AIDS) PUBLICATIONS Books/Monographs 1. Diang a, Rachael. African Re-creaion of Western Impressions: A Focus on the Kenyan Film. Saarbrucken: LAP, 2011. Book Chapters 1. Trans-formal Aesthetics and Cultural Impact on Sembene Ousmane s Explication of Xala in Sembene Ousmane and the Politics of Culture. (Forthcoming), Lexington, 2014. 2. African Images in Kenyan Film as a Response to Colonial Misrepresentations in Studies in African Movie Genres and Theories (Forthcoming), Cambridge. 3. Marriage and Sexuality in the Indigenous Kenyan Film in Human Sexuality in Africa: Beyond Reproduction by Eleanor Maticka-Tyndale, Richmond Tiemoko and Paulina Makinwa-Adebusoye. Published by Jacana Media, 2008. ISBN 1920196021, 9781920196028 4. The Status of Filmmaking in Kenya in Amakula Kampala International Film Festival Catalogue (2005 Edition) Kampala: Amakula, 2005. Conference Proceedings Transcending Borders: Two Kenyan Films Traversing Cultural Boundaries through Diaspora in Across Borders: Benefiting from Cultural Differences. Nairobi: DAAD, 2005. FILM PRODUCTION EXPERIENCE Producer/Director The Invisible Workers (2013) A Fahari Films documentary film funded by IDAY Kenya. Continuity, Costume and Make-up artist Uhiki (2012), A documentary film Directed by Matrid Nyagah and Produced by Kimani Njogu at AHADI Kenya with support from Rockfeller Foundation. Producer and Story writer Our Strength (2012) A Twaweza Communications film produced with Support from Ford Foundation
CONFERENCE/SEMINAR PAPER PRESENTATIONS September 3 rd 2014 Presented a paper on Grounding Popular Images in Transnational African Cinemas at DAAD Project, North South Literary and Cultural Interactions: Movements 1-5 September 2014 at Free University, Berlin. August 13 th 2014 Panelist and presenter on Refugee Protection in Kenya and the Impact of Film and Alternative Media on Social Change at FilmAid International s 8 th Annual Film Festival held at Alliance Francaise Nairobi, August 12 th -13 th 2014. September 2013 - Themes in Kenyan Film: Seasons and Reasons presented at East Africa @ Fifty conference held at the University of Nairobi from 10 th 12 th September 2013. June 21 st 2013 The Role of Critical Analysis in the Development of a Film Industry presented at Kenya Film Commission s Annual Film Conference and Exhibition held at Kenyatta International Conference Centre, Nairobi. June 21 st 2013 Style and Content in Selected Message Kenyan Message Films: 1980-2009 presented at the Post-graduate Seminar organized by and held at Kenyatta University, Nairobi. September 2012 African Cinema and the Evolving Masculinities Paper presented at the Scholars Network on the Wellbeing of African American Men Conference held in Fairfax, Virginia, at the Mason Inn and Hotel between 14-16 September 2012. July 2009 - Of Oral Traditions and Film in Africa: The Kenyan Situation presented at a seminar on Remembering Prof. Atieno Odhiambo and Bantu Mwaura at the Goethe Institut, Nairobi. October 2008 - What is Kenyan Cinema? A Historical Explication presented at the Women s Panorama under the theme of Women in Kenyan Cinema organised by the Kenya International Film Festival held from 22 nd October -2 nd November 2008 in Nairobi. September 2005 - Oral Narratives and Film in East Africa: An Example of Simbi Nyaima presented at the East African Film Congress organised by Amakula Kampala International Film Festival held from 15 th 25 th September 2005 in Kampala. July 2005 Quest for Identity in the Films from the Dhow Countries: The Case of Fungu la Kukosa and Naliaka is Going presented at the Monsoons and Migrations conference organised by the 8 th Zanzibar International Film Festival held between 1 st 10 th July 2005 in Zanzibar. CONFERENCES/WORKSHOPS FACILITATED OR ATTENDED April 23 rd -25 th, 2014 - Participated in Leadership and Entrepreneurship Conference organized by Pan-African Christian University, Nairobi, Kenya June 28 th 30 th 2013 Participated in Screen Production and Research conference held within the 16 th Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF), 2013, jointly organized by ZIFF and Murdoch University in Zanzibar.
February 2013 Facilitated a film production workshop for Kenya Film Commission in Nyeri, Kenya January 2011 January 2013 A participant in a Film/Theatre for Development in East Africa workshop series organized and supervised by a renown TFD expert Prof. Jane Plastow, University of Leeds, UK. July 2012 Participated in a SONY Professional workshop on Camera Angles conducted under AITEC - Broadcast Film and Africa Music Conference Held at Oshwal Centre, Nairobi on 10 th and 11 th July, 2012. May 2012 - Facilitated a one week screenwriting workshop for Kenya Film Commission in Mombasa, Kenya. November 17-20 2011 Participated in African Studies Association Annual meeting in Washington, DC, USA. May 2011 Facilitated a one week screenwriting workshop for Kenya Film Commission in Kisumu, Kenya. ADMINISTRATIVE EXPERIENCE June 2014 to date Appointed Assistant Organizing Secretary for the Association of Film Producing Educational Institutions in Kenya (AFPEIK) August 2013 to date - Appointed Postgraduate Studies/Colloquium Coordinator and Advisor for the Department of Theatre Arts and Film, Kenyatta University. 2009 to 2013 Examinations Coordinator for the Department of Theatre Arts and Film Technology, Kenyatta University, Kenya. 2006 Appointed member of the secretariat for the 2006 edition of Kenyatta University s Culture Week. MEMBERSHIPS AND OTHER PROFESSIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO SOCIETY June 2014 to date Member of Association of Film Producing Educational Institutions in Kenya January 2014 to date Member of Kenya Film and Television Producers Association April 16th-24 th, 2013- Appointed National Film adjudicator for the annual film festival within Kenya National Schools and Colleges Drama Festival, held in Mombasa, Kenya. April 8 th 20 th 2012 Appointed National Film adjudicator for the inaugural film festival within Kenya National Schools and Colleges Drama Festival held in Kakamega, Kenya. 2010 Appointed member of the organizing committee for the annual Kenyatta University Culture Week.
2009 to date Member of Kenya Non-fiction Authors Association. October 2005 Appointed member of the Jury for African Cineweek of Nairobi, a Nairobi-based film festival (Later, Kenya International Film Festival) October 2005 Appointed member of the organizing committee for the 2005 edition of African Cineweek of Nairobi PERSONAL INTERESTS Freelance Editing - Works Edited Include 2014 Environmental Factors and Procurement Regulatory Compliance by Public Universities in Kenya by Kennedy Nyambega Ombuki, PhD thesis, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. 2008 to 2009 Editing/Proofreading English and Literature books for Macmillan Kenya (Publishers) Ltd. 2008 - Death Strike (a novel) by Wallace Mbugua. 2008 Opportunities and Challenges of Community-based Conservation in Naro Moru, Mount Kenya (Thesis) by Veronica Ngima, Kenyatta University. 2008 - "Shifting Irrigation and its Effects on Community Livelihood and Environmental Quality: a Case of Lower Ewaso Nyiro, Isiolo District" (Dissertation) by Nicodemus N. Nzombe, Kenyatta University. 2008 - "Assessing the Effectiveness of Imenti Forest Reserve's Electric Fence in Mitigating Human-wildlife Conflict in Meru Central District, Kenya" (dissertation) by Rose Kaugiria, Kenyatta University. 2006 An Assessment of the Needs of Orphaned and Vulnerable Children within Central Division, Mwingi District, Kenya (dissertation) by Patricia Nzilu, Kenyatta University. 2006 Factors in Initial Drug Use among Students in Mixed Public Day Secondary Schools in Nairobi Province (dissertation) by Priscah Riunga Kangai, Kenyatta University. 2006 - Disaster Management and Extreme Events in Kenya by Isaac Kirui and Nelson Mango (book chapter) Kenyatta University. 2001 Husbanding the Land: Agrarian Revolution and Socio-technical Regimes in Luoland, Kenya by Nelson Mango (PhD thesis) Wageningen University, The Netherlands.