An American\'s affair with Kenya, Kerala

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kenya, America and Kerala may be leagues away from one another. But a seemingly strange connection among the three sites of divergent political and social experiences took shape in the State capital on Sunday when a documentary on ethnic violence in Kenya, made by an American, was screened before a select audience.

And that connection came thanks to a decision taken by the filmmaker Wesley Shrum to premiere his film before friends and the media in the place which he loves most.

�If anyone tells me they have just one place to go and asks me for guidance, I will say Kerala, this is the place to visit if you have the opportunity to visit only one place, said Mr. Shrum as he introduced his film.

Mr. Shrum is no ordinary filmmaker. He is a professor of sociology at Louisiana State University in the U.S. He has been visiting Kerala every year for over a decade now.

�I spend one month every year in Kerala. I also go every year to Kenya and Ghana. I go to the same places every year and dont move out. This film is the outcome of my experiences in Kenya,� he said.