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Project Detail

The Shadow Scholars

The Shadow Scholars
The Shadow Scholars

Synopsis

Oxford Professor Patricia Kingori travels to Kenya, where she uncovers the murky, multi-billion global underworld of essay-writing. Thousands of young and highly educated Kenyans – overqualified and chronically underemployed – have found lucrative work writing essays for students around the globe who are able and willing to pay for them. It’s a complex portrait of an issue that undermines the foundations of a pillar of humanity: education.
Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2024 - Documentary Competition - World premiere
Official Selection IDFA (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam) 2024 - International premiere
Official Selection CPH:DOX 2025
Official Selection Nairobi Film Festival 2025
Official Selection Tribeca Film Festival 2025

Details

Year
2024
Type of project
Features
Running time
98 min
Director
Eloise King
Producer
Eloise King, Anna Smith Tenser, Bona Orakwue, Tabs Breese, Riel Roch-Decter
Co-Producer
Rienkje Attoh
Executive Producer
Steve McQueen, Patricia Kingori
Editor
Cinzia Baldesarri, Julian Quantrill
Screenwriter
Eloise King
Director of Photography
Jonas Mortensen, Anna Patarakina, Jermaine Edwards, Joel Honeywell, Justin Ervin
Sound
Sound Designer: Chad Orororo

Categories

Documentary

Production Status

Complete

Production Company

Supported by BFI Doc Society, Film4, Field of Vision Fund, Firelight Media Fellowship, Wellcome, Kaplan International, Film & TV Charity John Brabourne Filmmaker Award, Logan Non-fiction Fellowship

A White Teeth Films and Lammas Park Production

WhiteTeeth Films

c/o Dogwoof
Ground Floor, Overseas House
19-23 Ironmonger Row
London
EC1V 3QN

Sales Company

Dogwoof

Ground Floor, Overseas House
19-23 Ironmonger Row
London
EC1V 3QN

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