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Inside/Out with Charity Maruta, director of the International Video Fair
Kubatana.net
September 15, 2009

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Describe yourself in five words.
Very-different-from-most-women.

What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?
Never to say never.

What's the most ridiculous thing you've ever done?
To find my own path in life, because I think a lot of women look at me and think I'm ridiculous, or they can't figure me out.

What is your most treasured possession?
My mom.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Poverty.

Do you have any strange hobbies?
INo not really, besides having recently started karate.

What do you dislike most about your appearance?
Not very much actually.

What is your greatest extravagance?
Spending a fortune on books and music.

What have you got in your fridge?
A good bottle of white wine, lots of muriwo, lots of lunch boxes of leftovers and a few cans of beer.

What is your greatest fear?
My greatest fear is that, as an African who belongs to this continent, we might never wake up to who we are.

What have you got in your pockets right now?
I have a toothpick.

What is your favourite journey?
My own inner journey. I think it's the most intriguing. What I've come across so far is that there are still parts of me that I discover, like how my heart can still open more. You look at yourself from outside and you think ‘ok that's me' but then there's so much more.

Who are your heroes in real life?
Of course Mbuya Nehanda. Alice Walker, I'm raving about her at the moment! The women of Liberia, and of course their President. And all the mothers out there that work so hard, they raise sons who turn around and oppress them, they raise girls who continue to suffer just like they did. I think its our fault as the mothers. We spoil our boys, that's why Africa's in such in mess, we spoil our boys as the mothers. We have to understand that they're going to be adults so they need to be responsible; they need to sensitive to other people's emotions. Yes they are definitely the weaker sex, that's why we treat them like that and we let them get away with murder; we literally let them get away with murder.

When and where were you happiest?
I think, now, here.

What's your biggest vice?
Always asking, the curiosity to explore. I always want to look at something in a completely new light.

What were you like at school?
I had a hard time at school because I am dyslexic. In those days, with my parents' background it was never noticed. History was worst I think, because I learnt about the British Empire and the British East Africa Company and I thought ‘What's that?!?' I had a good history teacher who knew that I found this really painful so he let me sit outside the door.

What are you doing next?
A documentary very much along the same lines as Sex in the City, but we're looking at domestic violence. And we initially started off wanting to look at why women stayed in violence-infested homes. It's been shot, and we're looking for the funding to edit.

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