Maia Lekow
Directing
Biography
Maia is a Kenyan musician and filmmaker, known prominently as the front-woman of the explosive band Maia & The Big Sky. The Letter is her feature debut, co-directed and produced with husband Christopher King. Maia was named a goodwill ambassador for UNHCR in 2013 and received an African Movie Academy Award for her song ‘Uko Wapi” in 2009. Currently performing across international stages with her band, Maia has also composed a hauntingly beautiful original score for The Letter.
Known For
Two intrepid Nairobi women decide to transform what used to be a whites-only library until 1958 into a vibrant cultural hub. Along the way, they must navigate local politics, raise millions for the rebuild, and confront the lingering ghosts of Kenya’s colonial past.
How to Build a Library
Karisa’s city-life is interrupted when his Grandma back home is called a witch and receives a death threat. Returning to his rural village to investigate, he finds a frenzied mixture of consumerism and Christianity is turning hundreds of families against their elders, branding them as witches as a means to steal their ancestral land.