Sing, Freetown
Picturehouse Cinemas
Runtime 94 min
2022
British Independent Film Awards (BIFA)
Breakthrough Producer (longlisted) / Best Editing (longlisted)
2022
One World Media
Best Feature Documentary (nominee)
2022
Global Cinema Film Festival of Boston
Best Feature Documentary (winner)
The Guardian
“This is a hugely special, rewarding documentary”
Phuong Le
The Upcoming
“Sing, Freetown is a beautiful and raw documentary”
Emma Kiely
THE BRITISH BLACKLIST
“Lush sounds are beautifully paired with stunning visuals”
WHELAN BARZEY
Loud and Clear Reviews
“A remarkable piece of documentary cinema”
Harry Solomons
Emmy winning filmmaker from Sierra Leone, Sorious Samura, is tired of telling negative stories about Africa. He goes home to stage an epic, uplifting work of national theatre. It doesn’t go as planned
Sorious Samura is Sierra Leone’s best-known investigative journalist, making documentaries for CNN, Channel 4 and BBC that have won two Emmy Awards and seen him described by The Independent as “the world’s most fearless filmmaker”. Over the last 25 years, he’s tackled the toughest issues in the region including civil war, starvation, AIDs, corruption, attitudes to homosexually and more.
But Sorious has grown tired of telling negative stories about Africa and, having moved to London many years earlier, begins to realise that he is only telling half of the truth about his continent. Desperate to change the narrative, he turns to his best friend and mentor, Sierra Leone’s iconic playwright, Charlie Haffner.
These two friends embark on a journey to create an inspiring work of national theatre – to restore pride to a nation with an amazing history, yet has become one of the world’s poorest countries.
It doesn’t go as planned.
It becomes clear very quickly that the two men have a shared ambition but have lived very different lives. Their two cultures collide and tensions flare, as Sierra Leone itself teeters on the brink of civil unrest. For both men, the play becomes a matter of personal and national salvation.
Through increasing adversity, they push to opening night. What will happen when the curtain lifts?