Los Angeles — Soul Boy is a gem of a film. It takes us into the world of the Kibera slums of Nairobi, telling the story of 14-year-old Abila, who sets out to find what is wrong with his ailing father.

The father has lost his soul to a witch and the young boy sets out on an adventure to save him.

The film is at times comedic, for example during Abila's run-ins with his friends in the neighborhood who gently tease him, a Luo, for having a Kikuyu girlfriend.

Samson Odhiambo plays the lead with reflection and honesty. Odhiambo's portrayal takes us completely into Abila's world, and through his facial expressions and embodiment of the character he allows the audience to empathize with Abila.

The breakout role in this film was definitely Shiku, played by Leila Dayan Opou. She is Abila's friend and girlfriend who follows him around and often brings about many of the film's comedic scenes.

The film used Kibera residents at all levels of production, and its imagery and photography earned it a best-director nomination at this year's Pan African Film Festival.

The film makers did well. So often stories deal with rampant poverty or crime but 'Soul Boy' shows that is not the only story Kibera has to tell.

Msia Kibona Clark is an AllAfrica special corresponent who covered the 19th Annual Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles, California. The festival screened more than 100 films made by and/or about people of African descent from the United States, Africa, the Caribbean, South America, the South Pacific, Europe and Canada.