Project Detail

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 Tribeca Film Festival 2025

Details

Year: 2024
Type of film: Features
Running time: 98 min
Director: Eloise King
Producer: Eloise King, Anna Smith Tenser, Bona Orakwue, Tabs Breese, Riel Roch-Decter
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

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

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Sales Company

Dogwoof

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

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The Shadow Scholars

Synopsis

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