Seko Shamte

Photo Courtesy Of Seko Shamte

WHERE ARE YOU RIGHT NOW AND HAVE YOU ALWAYS LIVED THERE?
I am currently based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and I have always lived here save for the years I lived in the U.S. for college, and as a kid.

WHAT’S THE BEST THING ABOUT YOUR CITY?
Definitely the food and the people. Tanzanians are very warm and peaceful people. We have something called uungwana where we really help each other out and look after one another.

WHERE WERE YOU BORN AND RAISED?
I was mostly raised in Dar es Salaam but we had years where we moved to Massachusetts in the U.S as well as Asia when I was kid. I moved back to New York City for college.

WHAT WERE YOUR CHILDHOOD ASPIRATIONS?
I always wanted to be in the arts. Music. Design. Those things were always my jam and thankfully I found a way to incorporate all of that into the work I do. I always say film is the perfect intersection of the things I like.

HOW AND WHY DID YOU BECOME ALL THE THINGS THAT YOU ARE: PRODUCER, WRITER, DIRECTOR, DJ. . .?
DJing was a natural extension of my love for music. I played instruments as a kid, was president of the music club in middle school, performed all over the place, and eventually landed a job in radio when I was 17. Media was always going to be my path. The writing and everything else was always a part of me as well. I always had a huge imagination and lived in my own head creating characters and such. It was all destined for me.

WHAT IS YOUR EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND?
I moved around a lot but I got my BSc. in Finance with a minor in Media from Marymount Manhattan College.

WHAT IS YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS?
Most of the stuff I work on starts as an obsession either with the topic or the person. I really love history and I’m particularly fascinated with Tanzanian history and I always look for these parallels between the “then" and the “now" so there will always be a historical link in my work. Sometimes I’ll see something during my day and I’ll think to myself, “That would make a really good scene or this conversation would be interesting to pursue on the screen”. They say never be friends with a writer because you will be written about. From there I’ll probably jot it down and it could turn into a short story or just a synopsis. My mind doesn’t really rest, I’ll dream about it, think about it, talk about it until it morphs into something.

WHAT OR WHO INSPIRES YOU ON A DAY TO DAY?
 So many people and things. My husband inspires my day to day, just his energy of invincibility and curiosity about the world. My parents are the biggest influences in my life. My dad is an engineer with this amazing, analytical mind that is a joy to behold and my mom has levels of emotional intelligence that are unparalleled. She really taught me how to harness my intuition and I live a very intuitive life. She’s also an amazing writer who made sure I went to writing camp in the summer and offers the most insightful critiques of my work. I’m also inspired by Tanzanian and African kids who really make it on a large scale within their industries like, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Lupita Nyong’o they represent us in the best way. I love to see people living out their dreams.

HOW DID THE MOVIE “HOMECOMING” COME ABOUT AND WHAT THEMES ARE YOU PURSUING?
“Homecoming” started out as a short story after observing how we, “returnees”, flounder the first couple of years when we got back home. How we kind of exist between two worlds and don’t fully fit in either one. I then used that experience to attempt to analyze corruption and how it perpetuates itself, generation after generation. Everyone has a solution for corruption in Tanzania but I was interested in how it takes hold in us. Are we doomed to repeat our parent’s mistakes? The concept is a bit abstract but I worked hard to make it simple and thoughtful at the same time.

WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF AFRICAN CINEMA?
Very, very bright. We are natural storytellers and all we needed was the equipment and technical know-how and we are finally getting that. I foresee us completely dominating film in the next couple of decades.

HOW CAN WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION IN CINEMATOGROPHY BE INCREASED?
This is a huge question and I doubt I could really do it justice; I will say that for many years women have been socialized to avert more technical vocations. There is a deep scarcity of women in STEM and other technical professions but I think that is slowly changing. We need to conquer that fear that society attempts to instill in us from an early age of mathematics or science based subjects. That self-doubt that makes us not even bother for fear of being unworthy. There is also a lack of access to cameras and such from an early age. Cinematographers live and breath their cameras and lenses, it becomes an extension of themselves and that usually needs to start at an early age. Like I said it is a broad conversation that has many different angles.

WHAT HAS BEEN A PIVOTAL MOMENT?
When I completed my first feature documentary, “Mkwawa” in 2011. To see a long form project through from conception to completion requires a tenacity that I realized I had. My confidence grew 10-fold and I became more confident in my film making skills.

HOW DOES YOUR AESTHETICS APPLY IN YOUR OWN LIFE?
I live for the arts. I surround myself with artists and imaginative people. I love to dress up, go out and meet people. My music selection is pretty eclectic, I grew up on classical (since I played the violin) music and hip hop (Born in the 80s) and everything in between. If it’s good, I’ll listen to it. I love Asian food. Thai, Indian, Japanese - the mixture of flavors and textures and also the freshness of the ingredients not to mention that array of fruits. It is my absolute favorite though I do make a mean coq au vin. My style is pretty straight forward. I love the avant-garde designers, McQueen, Rei Kawakubo, Galliano etc, the masters, though in my own wardrobe I wear a lot of clean lines. I barely wear patterns. My comfort zone is black and jeans. Yes, even in this tropical heat! I love the masters but definitely central African art has a special place in my heart. I also really love Takashi Murakami, he is definitely an inspiration. As en extension of the clean lines I like in my wardrobe, I also love clean lines in my furniture so Scandinavian design is my favorite with splashes of African art thrown in.

HOW DO YOU SPENT TIME AWAY FROM WORK?
I feel like I’m always working since my mind doesn’t shut off too easily but I work hard on meditation and presence so I can gain some stillness. I read a lot, I work out, do yoga and my favorite, I DJ or go out and dance with my friends. I’ve got a lot going on, a riddle wrapped in an enigma. I’m ever changing and always the same all at once.

HOW DO YOU STAY CENTERED?
Meditation is the lifeline to presence and to the higher power. God is the absolute center of my life, best friend and constant companion. I try to be mindful and aware at all times and practice gratitude the first thing when I wake up and before I go to bed and as many times as I can in between.