Rooted

Rooted
Kapwani Kiwanga
Find out more

Rooted

In December 2003, Scottish Television, Scottish Screen, and Grampian Television commissioned Kapwani Kiwanga for their 'This Scotland' 2004 scheme.  The resulting film, Rooted, is her directorial debut and garnered Kapwani two BAFTA Scotland nominations, for best first time director and best new work.

Rooted is an intimate look at the Afro hair salon in Scotland.  Ghanaian-born Anna Taylor's Ebony and Ivory boasts the prestige of being Edinburgh’s first Afro hair salon.  Anna’s warm nature transforms the salon into an informal social club - a place where friendships are forged and respite is found.

Eighteen-year-old Lindsay manages her family-owned salon which caters to young Black Scots.  Coming to terms with a hybrid identity and a sometimes unwelcoming country are topics that weave seamlessly into banter about the latest fashion and phatest music.

Rooted explores these two salons - the women who run them, their clients, and the experiences they share.

Kapwani Kiwanga

2004 was a busy year for Kapwani, seeing her make two broadcast films, one non-broadcast commission and receive two BAFTA Scotland nominations. 

Kapwani graduated from McGill University, Montreal, with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours).  She made two half-hour radio documentaries in 2002 for a local Montreal radio station, covering the subjects of single motherhood and women-led agricultural resistance in contemporary Kenya.  She contributed as a videographer to low budget documentary projects both in Canada and Europe, as well as collaborating in costume and set design on numerous performance projects.  In 2003, she moved to Edinburgh where she works as a freelance filmmaker. 

In 2004, Kapwani was appointed Training Development Coordinator at Edinburgh Mediabase with a remit to develop BME (black and minority ethnic) participation in and use of Mediabase's resources.  Read more about her work with Mediabase on our Profile page.

In 2004, she completed Passages, a documentary exploring race, privilege, and travel.  Kapwani wrote, produced, directed, and edited this 18-minute video.  She also completed Bon Voyage, a three minute short.  Shot on location in Paris, it is a portrait of one woman and her workplace - the toilets of the Montparnasse rail station.  The micro documentary broadcast on Channel 4 in September 2004.

Find out more Don't forget to read our profile on Kapwani and her traineeship at Edinburgh Mediabase, supported by the National Lottery through the Scottish Arts Council as part of our cultural diversity implementation strategy.