Sam Soko: Last News

Brent Lang Executive Editor New Slate Ventures has come on board as a production partner for Insignia Films’ “Free Money.” The announcement was made just ahead of the documentary feature’s world premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. Jordan Fudge, Jeremy Allen and Tess Cohen will join producer Amanda Pollak, and executive producers Stephen Ives, Bradwel Iro (LBX Africa), Chris Buck (Retro Report) to back the film.  The film explores what happens when universal basic income (UBI) comes to the Kenyan village of Kogutu. GiveDirectly, a non-profit organization, is sending free money for 12 years as part of an experiment. Filmmakers Lauren DeFilippo and Sam Soko juxtapose the story of these young economists, bankrolled by Silicon Valley and convinced that they have found an infallible algorithm to improve lives, with those of the villagers.

Guy Lodge Film Critic The political activism of pop stars is, as a rule, on the restrained side. Those who make their allegiances clear still tend to keep all factions in their fanbases sweet by limiting divisive rhetoric, or filtering their politics through broadly palatable humanitarian causes; those who speak a little more frankly still risk the wrath of the public, the internet and their record labels alike. Yet for Ugandan singer Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu — better known to his adoring fans as Bobi Wine — there’s both everything and nothing to lose by getting a little more directly involved in national politics than most such celebrities would dare. Entering a presidential election against corrupt, long-ruling incumbent Yoweri Museveni is, he knows, both a folly and a necessary symbolic stand — a certain path to honorable defeat that “Bobi Wine: Ghetto President” documents with angry urgency and bitter gallows humor.

The Kenyan film Softie is gaining momentum as documentary features make their closing arguments for inclusion on the Oscar shortlist, with preliminary voting set to wrap up Friday. The film was nominated Tuesday for a Producers Guild Award, honoring the work of director-producer Sam Soko and producer Toni Kamau.