''The First Grader'' is a 2010

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Justin Chadwick Justin Chadwick (born 6 December 1968) is an English actor and television and film director. He directed episodes of ''EastEnders'', ''Byker Grove'', ''The Bill'', '' Spooks'' and '' Red Cap'' before directing nine of the fifteen episodes of t ...

. It stars

Naomie Harris Naomie Melanie Harris (born 6 September 1976) is a British actress. She started her career when she was a child, appearing in the television series ''Simon and the Witch'' in 1987. She portrayed Selena in the zombie film ''28 Days Later'' (2002 ...

, Oliver Litondo, and

Tony Kgoroge Tony Kgoroge (born 21 April 1974) is a South African actor. He is best known for his performance as Jason Tshabalala in ''Invictus''. He also stars as Zimele "Ngcolosi" Bhengu on e.tv's soap, '' Imbewu: The Seed''. Personal life He is married ...

. The film is based on the true story of

Kimani Maruge Kimani Ng'ang'a Maruge ( – August 14, 2009) holds the Guinness World Record for being the oldest person to leave primary school—he enrolled in the first grade on January 12, 2004, aged 84. Although he had no papers to prove his age, Maruge ...

, a

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

n farmer who enrolled in elementary school at the age of 84 following the Kenyan government's announcement of free universal primary education in 2003.

Plot

In 2003, a disc jockey announces over a Kenyan radio station that the government is offering free primary school education to all natives who can prove citizenship with a birth certificate. Kimani Maruge (Litondo), an 84-year-old villager, hears this and decides to take it upon himself to seek an education. Arriving at his local school, he meets Jane Obinchu (Harris), the principal and teacher. He expresses his desire to learn how to read. Her teaching colleague Alfred (Munyua), ridicules him and demands he leave. Later, Jane informs her husband Charles (Kgoroge) about Maruge. He discourages her in supporting his educational endeavor. After beginning his initial classes, Maruge is plagued by memories of his service during the

Mau Mau Uprising The Mau Mau rebellion (1952–1960), also known as the Mau Mau uprising, Mau Mau revolt or Kenya Emergency, was a war in the British Kenya Colony (1920–1963) between the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA), also known as the ''Mau Mau'', an ...

against the British in the 1950s. He begins to hallucinate and becomes confrontational with the students, struggling to continue his academics. Controversy begins to stir over Maruge's education. Soon enough, the story that an elderly man going to school becomes national headlines. Mr. Kipruto (Kunene), a superintendent of the school district, is alerted to the situation and strongly disapproves of Maruge's predicament and suggests that he go to an adult educational facility. Meeting with the head of the education board to plead Maruge's case, Jane is overruled. It is explained to her that if an exception is made to keep Maruge in the school, others will follow, and many schools will eventually become filled with older people sitting aside children. Maruge is forced to attend an adult learning centre, where he soon finds himself surrounded by people with no motivation or ambition to study. Maruge vows to never go back to the adult institution. Jane later decides to offer him a reprieve, to work as her teaching assistant. As Maruge's story gains publicity and attention, the local press descend on the school, causing friction among the parents. The villagers believe Jane and Maruge are seeking fame and fortune at the expense of the children. Following negative feedback and random acts of violence against the school, Jane soon receives a letter that she is to be transferred to another educational institute a few hundred miles away. Jane reveals to Maruge that she is relocating, and then commences an emotional goodbye with the children. Following protests and disobedience on part of the students towards their new teacher, Maruge is motivated to travel to Nairobi to appeal himself to the education board. Jane is reinstated at the school, where Maruge and the children are there to welcome her. The film's epilogue displays a series of graphics stating that at age 84, Maruge is the oldest person to start primary school according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Supplementally, he was invited to make a speech before international leaders at the UN in New York regarding the power of education. He inspired a whole new generation of people to go to school for the first time. Maruge later died in 2009.

Cast

as Jane Obinchu * Oliver Litondo as

*Alfred Munyua as Alfred *

as Charles Obinchu *

Vusi Kunene Vusi Kunene is a South African actor, best known for his role as Jack Mabaso in '' Generations'' and its continuation, '' Generations: The Legacy'', Funani Zwide in House of Zwide, Bhekifa in Isibaya(2012-2016),Jefferson Sibeko in Isidingo(2009 ...

as Mr. Kipruto * Sam Feuer as American Journalist

Production

Filming

US based film producer Sam Feuer found the story on the front page of the LA Times and optioned the rights. He, and then, producing partner Richard Harding, partnered with BBC Films and hired Ann Peacock to write the screenplay. The British produced film was shot on location in the

Rift Valley A rift valley is a linear shaped lowland between several highlands or mountain ranges created by the action of a geologic rift. Rifts are formed as a result of the pulling apart of the lithosphere due to extensional tectonics. The linear dep ...

in Kenya, despite earlier reports that it would be filmed in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. Director Chadwick conveyed, "We could have shot it in South Africa, but Kenya has this unbelievable, inexplicable energy inherent in the children, and the people we were making the film about".

Reception

Critical response

Among mainstream critics the film received generally mixed reviews.

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

gave the film a fresh score of 61% based on reviews from 71 critics, with an average score of 5.6 out of 10. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which assigns a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

out of 100 to critics' reviews, ''The First Grader'' was given a score of 56 based on 21 reviews.

Awards and nominations

*Won: 2010

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

Audience Award (runner-up) *Won: 2011

Satellite Awards The Satellite Awards are annual awards given by the International Press Academy that are commonly noted in entertainment industry journals and blogs. The awards were originally known as the Golden Satellite Awards. The award ceremonies take place ...

for Best Educational Film *Won: 2011 Rochester International Film Festival, Audience Award *Won: 2011 Pan African Film Festival, Audience Award *Won: 2011 Nashville Festival, Audience Choice Award *Nominated: 2011

Gotham Independent Film Audience Award The Gotham Independent Film Audience Award was one of the annual Gotham Independent Film Awards awarded between 2010 and 2020. The winner was determined via an online vote, in earlier years by the independent film community and film fans (2010� ...

*Won: 2011 Emden International Film Festival, Audience Award *Won: 2011 Emden International Film Festival, The

Bernhard Wicki Bernhard Wicki (28 October 1919 – 5 January 2000) was an Austrian actor and film director. Life and career Wicki studied in the city of Breslau such topics as art history, history and German literature. In 1938, he transferred to the d ...

Award *Won: 2011 Durban Film Festival, Audience Award *Won: 2011 Zanzibar Film Festival, Audience Award *Won: 2011 360 365 Film Festival, Best Feature *Won: 2011 World Soundtrack Awards, Discovery of the Year - ''

Alex Heffes Alex Heffes (; born 2 September 1971) is a British film composer. His film scores include those for the BAFTA-winning '' Touching the Void'', and Oscar-winning movies ''One Day in September'', ''The Last King of Scotland'', and ''Inside Job''. He ...

'' *Won: 2011

Sedona International Film Festival The Sedona International Film Festival (SIFF) is an annual, eight-day film festival in Sedona, Arizona. The festival was founded in 1994. The Sedona Film Festival screens feature films, documentary films, short films, animated films, and student ...

Audience Choice Awards, Directors’ Choice AwardsAward Winners: Past Festivals
/ref> *Won: 2012

AARP AARP (formerly called the American Association of Retired Persons) is an interest group in the United States focusing on issues affecting those over the age of fifty. The organization said it had more than 38 million members in 2018. The magazin ...

Movies for Grownups Award for Best Actor - '' Oliver Litondo'' *Won: 2012

NAACP Image Awards The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ( NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. Similar to ...

for Outstanding Writing for a Motion Picture - ''Ann Peacock'' *Nominated: 2012

NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Motion Picture This article lists the winners and nominees for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Motion Picture, awarded by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). This award has been given since 1972 and as of 2017 ...

- '' Sam Feuer, David Thompson, Richard Harding'' *Nominated: 2012

NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Independent Motion Picture This article lists the winners and nominees for the NAACP Image Award The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding perform ...

- '' Sam Feuer, David Thompson, Richard Harding'' *Nominated: 2012

for Outstanding Soundtrack Album *Nominated: 2012

NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture This article lists the winners and nominees for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture. Winners and nominees For each year in the tables below, the winner is listed first and highlighted in bold. 1960s 1970s 1980s 19 ...

- '' Oliver Litondo'' *Won: 2012 Ivor Novello Awards, Best Original Film Score - ''

'' *Nominated: 2012 Black Reel Awards, Best Actor - '' Oliver Litondo'' *Nominated: 2012 Black Reel Awards, Best Original Score - ''

References

;Footnotes

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:First Grader 2010 films 2010 biographical drama films British biographical drama films American biographical drama films English-language Kenyan films Films scored by Alex Heffes Films set in Kenya Films set in 2003 Films shot in Kenya Films about race and ethnicity BBC Film films Films about education 2010 drama films Films directed by Justin Chadwick Kenyan drama films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films 2010s British films