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The venue for the film's premiere was a tent erected over the hard-packed earth of the school playground. Instead of a red carpet, there was a dusty green tarpaulin, and the white plastic chairs were a little unsteady. Two classrooms had temporary screens set up, with the desks piled up
The venue for the film's premiere was a tent erected over the hard-packed earth of the school playground. Instead of a red carpet, there was a dusty green tarpaulin, and the white plastic chairs were a little unsteady. Two classrooms had temporary screens set up, with the desks piled up outside, under a tree. 5 For the children of the village of Kisames, in the Ngong Hills, an hour's drive south of Nairobi, the capital, this was the first sight of a screen. "Who has seen a movie before?" asked Justin Chadwick, the director, of the 200 or so youngsters. Not one hand went up. Though they were newcomers to cinema, the children from the Oloserian primary school had already taken a starring role in front of the camera – in the film that Chadwick had returned, a year 10 after shooting, to screen. The First Grader, a remarkable new British film that has its UK premiere next week, is based on the true story of an unlikely African hero. Kimani N'gan'ga Maruge was a Mau Mau fighter in the war of independence against the British. When the Kenyan government announced free primary education for all in 2002, he went to his local school in Eldoret and demanded to be taught to read. He was 84. Against 15 fierce opposition from officials and parents, who did not want a precious educational place to be given to an old man, Maruge was accepted into the school to learn alongside the six-year- olds. The importance of Maruge and this film goes beyond the children, and beyond the electricity, running water and new classroom that the production company was able to bring into this 20 dirtyard school. It taps into a key issue with which Kenya is battling: education. Last week it was revealed that some £31m intended for primary schools had disappeared from the ministry of education's coffers. There remain huge problems in establishing schools in rural areas and in persuading poor parents that their children's education is a priority. In his determination to learn, Maruge drew attention to this. A freedom fighter who had been imprisoned and tortured 25 by the British, he believed that education for all was one of the things that he had fought for. Maruge's story became known through local and then international newspaper stories and he was invited to address the UN in 2005, where he