Title: How to Build a Library

Director: Maia Lekow & Christopher King

Year: 2025

Country and language: Kenya, English and other

Genre: Documentary

Australian distributor: Autlook

The film: Two intrepid Nairobi women decide to transform what used to be a whites-only library until 1958 into a vibrant cultural hub. Along the way, they must navigate local politics, raise millions for the rebuild, and confront the lingering ghosts of Kenya’s colonial past.

The directors: Maia Lekow is an award-winning Kenyan director, producer, composer, sound recordist, and musician. Christopher King is an award-winning director, editor, cinematographer, and producer originally from Melbourne, who has called Nairobi home since 2007.

The screening: Join us at the Bundy for our second documentary of Season 2. Arrive from 7pm for a prompt 7:30 start. BYO drinks and dinner, or help yourself to snacks and a cuppa (gold coin donation). Membership payments on the door (cash/card) or in advance via Trybooking.

Please note

Please be aware that we are not able to provide comprehensive content notes or trigger warnings for films in advance. If you are concerned about a film and would like to check online, here are some websites that might help:

• Does the Dog Die? Usually the most comprehensive resource in terms of film listings. However, the information is crowd sourced, so some listings are empty or incomplete. (Perhaps you could add notes after our screening!)

• Trigger Checker. Search for the film and then for your specific triggers. This tends to list only more mainstream films.

• Unconsenting Media. Specific warnings around sexual violence.

• Common Sense Media. Aimed at parents, but useful to many.