The Field of Dreams team has landed and all volunteers and staff are now assembling in Kilifi.
This morning is one of those excited mornings. One you wish you had every day. Its the kind of morning where you wake up in an instant and energetically step out your door to explore at 6am. The unusual combination of jetlag combined with the novelty of being in a new place.
Before I headed to the project office, I went out for a walk along the beach looking onto the Kilifi river joining the Indian Ocean. Gold light burst onto the rippling gently moving river. The fisherman were standing in their canoes, quietly throwing their nets into the water. Clouds of tiny fish burst from the surface in every direction, as a larger fish had apparently attacked and stirred everything underneath.
I met Harshad after breakfast and headed to the MTG office. We walked along foot paths and tall grass to a large white two story building surrounded by a fence, security, and various huts.
I was greeted warmly by the staff and employees. I met Cokie, an amazing Dutch woman, who came to Kenya as a volunteer 5 years ago and decided to stay. She introduced me to the staff and volunteers. I met Josephine from Nairobi, a volunteer from Safaricom, a national cell phone company. The national cell phone company. She came for a 3 month stretch to help support MTG. Everyone seems friendly and busy at work running a region-wide soccer program.
The director is not in today. But I’m told she’s British and lives here locally with her family and three children. Harshad’s first wave of volunteers are in the main classroom discussing the hour-by-hour teaching timeline for the next week. They are a talented and devoted crew. All from the BBC. Each has taken their personal time off to help out.
I left them to begin my own timeline for the World Cup screenings. First thing is to sort out the equipment and inspect that all pieces have arrived safely. The day is spent sorting through the Open Air Cinema CineBox system. The next step is basic audio visual training, scheduled for tomorrow.
(Follow Stuart’s journey to Kenya on the Open Air Cinema blog)
The Sandlot follows Scotty Smalls, a teenage boy who moves into a new neighborhood near 
The boys can’t afford another ball, so Smalls gets his stepfathers ball in his study that is signed by a nobody, “Babe Ruth”. The ball is quickly hit over the fence, and when Smalls realizes who the nobody was who signed the ball, the group sets out to recover it. The resulting scenes will keep your audience on the edges of their seats, as the boys come in near contact with “The Beast”!
This film has a PG rating, and so is not for small children, both for its mild suggestive content and violence. Who Framed Roger Rabbit would make a great outdoor movie or backyard cinema event for school and college crowds, and would be a really good pick for your next date night outdoor cinema! As we’ve noted many times before, animations do very well as outdoor movies, as their colors are crisp and bright, and the high contrast makes a stunning overall image. With Who Framed Roger Rabbit, you’ve got the bonus features of an animation, with the teenage and up content that normally comes with non-animations. The film will bring out large crowds, as it is a movie that people don’t watch as often as other movies. Nostalgia will always draw a crowd!
If you have screened Who Framed Roger Rabbit as an outdoor movie, we’d love to see images from the event, and would also be thrilled to hear your story. Please email us at community@openaircinema.us, and we’ll share your story (even if it does not have to do with Roger Rabbit!) with the rest of the open air community.
This movie is a great pick for an outdoor movie for several reasons. First, everyone loves this movie! This will really draw a crowd, as this is a childhood favorite for kids now, as well as their parents (who watched this when they were kids). For most of your audience, it won’t be a movie that they watch all the time, but is enough of a favorite that it will cause them to come out and watch it under the stars. As we mentioned before with animations, Robin Hood will look clear and bright, as it has bright colors with high contrast.
As with any Disney movie, make sure you check with Swank Motion Pictures about when Robin Hood is available for licensure, as there are specific times of the year when you can screen this film.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is a classic film that is entertaining in ways that contemporary adventure films can’t compete with. The film doesn’t rely too heavily on CGI graphics or massive explosions or violence, but rather on quick paced mystery and adventure that makes Indiana Jones unique. The film was a difficult one to make and included filming locations in 
As with many of the films on our Top 25 list, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is a great selection in part for the possibilities it brings for pre-movie activities. You could have a look-alike Indiana Jones contest, with audience members voting on the best dressed and best posed contestant! You could even have a “holy grail”, or other faux-treasure for the winner, along with sponsored prized from your nearby local businesses. In fact, getting sponsors for your events is a great way to pay for movie licensing, equipment upgrade, and for staff support! It is a way for local businesses to show that they care about their community, and there is no better opportunity to get in front of thousands of their potential customers.
The film is loosely based off real characters and events, a point which makes the movie even more enjoyable. This film is not for young children, although teenagers and young adults will really enjoy the film, and with a PG rating, is appropriate to be screened as a community outdoor movie. It would make a great pick for an outdoor movie date night, or for high school or college audiences! There are several ways to engage your audience when screening Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid as an outdoor movie. You could have a western themed night, with your audience members dressing in their cowboy and cowgirl attire, and even have a set where they could take their pictures in groups. Depending on where your town is located, you could even screen the film in a pastoral setting, creating an ambiance that goes hand in hand with the film. The opportunities are endless, and the movie will definitely draw a big crowd!
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid can be licensed through 
