With the critically acclaimed documentary, How To Build A Library, set to open the NBO Film Festival on October 16th, filmmakers Maia Lekow and Christopher King offered an intimate look into the eight-year journey of capturing a nation’s post-colonial identity struggle.
The Nairobi-based husband-and-wife directing duo, whose previous work The Letter was Kenya’s official Oscar submission, discussed the challenge of following real lives, the weight of history, and the rising global demand for African narratives.
Following protagonists Wanjiru “Shiro” Koinange and Angela Wachuka, the co-founders of Book Bunk, for nearly a decade demanded a patient and flexible filmmaking approach. Lekow and King were frank about the inherent difficulties, which included filming intimate lives, handling sensitive information, and navigating unpredictable real-world events.
“Building trust with protagonists and investing time in making them comfortable was crucial for obtaining a genuine story,” Lekow explained.
King added that unlike fiction, documentary storytelling offers no control over the ending. This commitment to verité (truth) allowed them to capture the deep resilience of the women as they confronted bureaucratic hurdles and unexpected crises.
After an acclaimed run that began at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, the filmmakers expressed a mix of excitement and anticipation about the Kenyan premiere.
“Bringing the film to Nairobi was refreshing because Kenyan audiences inherently understand the context without needing extensive explanations,” King noted. This inherent context is precisely what international audiences often lack, making the homecoming especially significant. Lekow, whose film will be the opening night feature for the NBO Film Festival, also underscored the importance of celebrating and supporting fellow local creatives.
At its heart, the film is about restoring the McMillan Memorial Library, a structure still bearing the architectural and emotional scars of a segregationist past. The documentary addresses post-colonial issues by exploring the friction between the Book Bunk initiative and the systemic issues embedded in the physical space.
Lekow recounted finding a specific document in the archives, a photograph of Kenya’s first hanging in 1907, a moment she described as particularly jarring, underscoring how deeply entrenched colonial systems remain.
The philosophical anchor of the film, King noted, lies in combating what Dr. Joyce Nyairo called in her book Kenya@50 the “deliberate institutionalization of amnesia.” The film aims to combat this by rooting current movements in historical struggles. As co-founder Shiro Koinange states in the film, history is “baggage” that must be addressed to change the national narrative.
Lekow observed a notable shift in the international filmmaking landscape, noting a growing global appetite for intimate African documentary cinema. International platforms are now actively seeking stories about Africa told by Africans themselves, signaling a long-overdue move away from a traditional Western gaze.
She praised organizations like DocuBox for nurturing talented Kenyan documentarians and enabling them to produce high-quality work for international distribution. Lekow credited DocuBox aka the East African Film Fund for funding and supporting their first documentary. Since 2013, Docubox has funded over 100 films.
The duo is committed to ensuring the film’s message about public space and community resonates widely. They plan a nationwide theatrical run alongside community engagement screenings in various social spaces, including libraries. King stressed that the goal is not to draw conclusions, but to trigger important conversations and foster intellectual development across the region.
Lekow shared a key thematic thread across their work: all three of their features, The Letter, How to Build a Library, and their current production, feature strong, independent African women demonstrating resilience in the face of systemic challenges. These films explore themes of colonialism through a deeply personal lens, often exploring male perspectives through a female gaze.
For aspiring African filmmakers, King’s advice was direct: “genuinely love your craft” and prioritize mentorship. Lekow offered two final, crucial points: the importance of being open to positive criticism and the practical reminder that expensive gear isn’t essential.
“The story itself is the most crucial element,” she concluded.