Let’s face it, s**t is disgusting. But more disgusting is the statistic that water, and food, contaminated with faeces kills one child in the world every 20 seconds – more than Aids and malaria combined
The Last Taboo is not a worthy documentary. Instead it uses humour and sincerity to tell the stories of two remarkable Kenyan men who are helping their communities to stop defecating in the open and start building toilets. And that’s a tall order when over 6 million Kenyans use the bush rather than the bathroom, in thrall to all sorts of taboos and cultural barriers.
In Ganze village, the charismatic Chief Charro takes his villagers through a remarkable “triggering” process, collecting fresh faeces and shocking his community into change. And in the slums of Nairobi, Mambo Dennis makes poo his business, bringing people together to demand more latrines.
Unflinchingly and with affection, the film shines a light on an unsolved public health crisis to inspire the audience to believe in people power and the possibilities for change.
Director Tony Steyger teamed up with fellow professionals to mentor UK and Kenyan film students to produce this bold documentary. “By collaborating with film schools and universities around the developing world we can maximise the exposure of important subject matter and emerging talent. Next, we aim to shoot for a feature-length version in India and Southeast Asia,” said Steyger.
The Last Taboo screened on World Toilet Day, 19 November 2012 on the Community Channel in UK, and around the world.
See another film we’ve supported on the topic: The Toilet: An Unspoken History
Testimonial
The team at WorldView believed in The Last Taboo project from the very start and their positive support encouraged us in producing our pilot documentary on the global sanitation crisis. We focused on two stories set in Kenya and are now raising a bigger budget to develop the project into a feature. Having the backing of WorldView has opened doors for us with funding partners and distributors, for which we are very grateful.
Tony Steyger, director
