TAKE 5: Mitchelle Jangara

Mitchelle Jangara is a video producer who works for Zumi Kenya.

1. How did you get into video production and what's your favourite aspect about this job?

As a child, I often watched documentaries on how Hollywood movies are made. I became so fascinated, I knew that storytelling through videos and films was exactly what I wanted to do. As I grew older, I spent more time on YouTube, learning how to make videos and films. I eventually worked at several production companies that helped hone my skill. What I like best about my job is being able to tell a story through video.

2. What do you do for Zumi Kenya?
I am a video producer, so I mostly focus on the technical aspects of video production. I handle all of our video equipment and take lead on the production of each of our videos. Being a woman behind the camera, doing technical work that’s mostly associated with men shows there’s really no job that should strictly be associated with a particular gender.

3. Why do you think we have a tendency to be so conservative about what we show on air?

It’s important to want to protect vulnerable groups such as children from harmful content, but to censor a production just because it disagrees with what you believe is morally wrong, it is enforcing your beliefs on another person. I think such a reaction is about wanting to maintain the status quo, coupled with the desire to control, to have power over people.

4. What do you like to watch when you're not producing content for other people to watch?
I watch a lot of documentaries and a lot of YouTube videos just to take a peek into different cultures and people. And of course, I still watch documentaries on how films are made.

5. Do you think filmmakers have a responsibility to influence thought or is the role of television to provide role models and reflect society?

Audio-visual media is incredibly powerful, and has multiple purposes, among them, to reflect society. Isn’t it wonderful to see who we are reflected back at us through art? It’s also wonderful to watch films that revolutionise how we think and how we see the world.

Filmmakers have to understand the power that lies in this medium and use it accordingly.