OUR STORY

The smoke stings Lloyd Maanyina’s eyes and sears his throat, but he does not stop his blade from biting into the bark. He cuts and cuts, so many trees that he cannot count. He burns them down to charcoal, which he sells to feed his family. But a thought glows in his heart:

“In 20 years’ time, are we going to have a forest remaining? I should stop what I am doing and stop it completely.”

He lays down his axe, digs his hands into the soil, and plants a tree. His fierce desire to pay back nature grows a plant nursery and he starts selling seedlings to his neighbours.

We made Amazing Grace, hoping this tale of one man’s stand against deforestation in Zambia will inspire others. The film won numerous awards and concentrated our focus on celebrating local stories of agency and resilience.

How Can We Help Share Your Story?

We wanted to share Amazing Grace with the communities which helped us make it. But in the impoverished areas in which we work, lack of infrastructure and data resources means zero cinemas. So we started Sunshine Cinema, Africa’s first solar-powered media distribution network.