Photo by Stefan Verwer

On 11 November, the story of three African journalists took the spotlight with the premier of the documentary Through our own eyes at Amsterdam’s Kriterion theater. (Click here to view the trailer.)

Filmed in the lead-up to and during the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the film follows Selay Marius Kouassi, Andrew Esiebo and Goitsemang Nkomo as they work to tell the world Africa’s story from an African perspective.

Beyond the piercing wails of vuvuzelas and the rainbow colored jerseys of football supporters, Through our own eyes shows that the international event can be about more than just sport.

“Football opens a door,” Kouassi said in the film. As a writer whose work uncovers the darker side of football, he has faced threats and danger. While researching one story about the bribery of a young football player’s family, Kouassi received phone calls demanding that he stop his work or face deadly consequences.

Struggling to cover stories in his native Ivory Coast with a fair and balanced perspective, Kouassi uses the World Cup to give him access to people and places he may not have had before.

“Sports are safer than investigating politics,” he said. “But with football, you can find a common ground.”

Whether it be pressure from the government or a lack of resources, African journalists must have dedication and passion to do their work. In one scene, Esiebo laboriously cranks a generator at his Nigerian home. The loud, gas guzzling machine is his work’s lifeline. As a photographer, he needs the electricity to upload his photos onto the Internet and to an international audience.

“For me, it is interesting to see how football influences our culture,” Esiebo said in the film. He took his camera and the audience to Orange Park, a township in South Africa where women gathered to play a friendly, but competitive game of football. Here, Esiebo shows football can play a role in strengthening relationships within the community.

“It’s good for my social life. I get to talk to other women about problems in my life, about my stress,” one female player told the camera.

Football brings many African communities together, as evidenced by radio journalism made by Nkomo in South Africa. The film shows her reporting from an HIV support group that meets while the country is celebrating the home team’s attempt to win on their own soil.

Between female laughter and chatter, a television broadcasted the match live in the background.

“[Africa] is just a venue for FIFA. But this is where people live, have families, society – this is a community,” Nkomo told the audience.

Showing the many faces of Africa from the perspective of these three journalists was the goal of filmmakers Thomas Hurkxkens and André van der Stouwe.

Speaking at the premier, the two described their ‘fly on the wall’ approach to the documentary, being sure to let the journalists tell their own stories. They also praised the professionalism the Africans brought to the project.

“We selected the three as people who tell the most powerful stories. They were very professional. Rather than learning from us, it was more like we learned from them,” Hurkxkens said.

Traveling throughout the continent for over a year, the filmmakers said the importance of African voices telling African stories resonated with them the most.

“As a European journalist, you stand out so much and a lot of people don’t want to talk to you,” Hurkxkens said. “It’s an important example of how African journalists must do their job because they can connect easily to the people. Strong African journalism can deliver real, balanced news from Africa.”

All too often, news stories from Africa are told by foreign journalists rather than Africans themselves. Van der Stouwe worries that people may think there are no African journalists.

“In this film, we show that there are African journalists, that they’re good, they have passion. They have everything to make them good journalists,” he said at the premier.

“The only thing they need is a little bit of help and a podium to tell their stories to the rest of the world.”

With Through our own eyes, the first step toward getting this message across has been reached. But there is still a long way to go in supporting Africa and the journalists living there. For these filmmakers, the connection between the two is essential.

“In the West, we try to develop Africa, but often we forget about journalism. If you want to create a successful society, I think journalism is a very essential part,” said Van der Stouwe.

After getting to know Kouassi, Esiebo and Nkomo as both professionals and friends, Hurkxkens is positive about the future of African journalism. “If it’s up to these guys, the outlook is very bright.”

Through our own eyes is part of the Twenty Ten: African Media on the Road to 2010 (and beyond) project, initiated by World Press Photo, Free Voice, Africa Media Online and lokaalmondiaal. African journalists from 34 nationalities contributed to the project with written articles, photographs, broadcasts and multimedia productions about football and related issues from an African perspective.

In addition to the documentary, the project also produced a book about football in Africa and an exhibition that opened in Amsterdam and will soon be on show in South Africa.

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