* is a non-profit training initiative for emerging East African filmmakers, founded by acclaimed director Mira Nair. Maisha Film Garden is cultural, environmental and architectural project to see and narrate a new Africa. It is intended to sum up life in cinema and architecture. The new headquarters of the Film Lab is conceived as a film sequence inspired by the evolution of life (Maisha means “life in Kiswahili). Overlooking Lake Victoria, it is designed as a series of open classrooms in a natural setting to foster discussion, learning and contemplation. The headquarter is a building made entirely of bricks and has a theater/terrace overlooking the landscape. It is the first and last stage on the living path. Symbolically, it represents the beginning and end of the human life.

Planned start Jan '18

Ethical standards and social inclusion Mira Nair created a not-for-profit organization, the Maisha Foundation, in 2004 to address the absence of a globally viable film industry in East Africa. Mira Nair says “If we dont tell our stories, no one else will, this is the reason why her mission is to empower visionary artists by giving them the tools to tell their stories in a global discourse; and establish the roots of a self-sustaining film industry in East Africa. Currently, all selected participants attend Maishas programs free of charge. Maisha Film Lab headquarters is a cultural, environmental and architectural project to see and narrate a new Africa. Resource and environmental performance In the area of Kampala there is an excellent production of bricks due to the presence of large amounts of clay and to the ease of finding combustible. The bricks are hand made using kilns made on site. The project is inspired by the shape of the kilns and by the technology of brick, used for both the walls two types vaulted ceilings. In this way we want to promote local production and minimize the use of cement. Particular attention was paid to environmental sustainability. Beginning with the choice of the building materials: bricks. Material produced locally by local craftsmen. A special study has been done on the topic of natural ventilation of the building of Maisha school. Contextual and aesthetic impact The Maisha Film Labs headquarters lies on a hill in Kampala. Its proximity to Lake Victoria endows the area with an eyegrabbing panoramic view. The walking path, which develops in the garden, begins in childhood and unfolds through different stations in the evolution of the human being until the final transition, from which one can start again. It includes several functional activities of the school and reveals sights of cultural relevance, such as a cinema / theater, created using the slope of the land. The Maisha Film Labs headquarters is the heart of the project. It is a building made entirely of bricks and has a theater/terrace overlooking the landscape. It is the first and last stage on the living path. Symbolically, it represents the beginning and end of the human adventure.