‘The Shadow Scholars’ Sheds Light on Multibillion-Dollar ‘Fake Essay’ Industry Built on the Work and Wits of Kenyan Writers

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A hidden academic industry, where Kenyan writers secretly craft essays for wealthier college students, is exposed in “The Shadow Scholars,” a documentary produced by Steve McQueen and shown this week at the Joburg Film Festival, as revealed by Eloïse King’s work.

The London-born director’s first major work exposes the billion-dollar phony essay business, which is staffed by approximately 40,000 Kenyans – educated yet unemployed individuals who find employment in this field, helping students worldwide with their academic assignments.

The movie portrays the everyday struggles of multiple authors, balancing their day jobs with parenthood, as they strive relentlessly to fulfill academic obligations abroad. It also explores themes about “the impact of being noticed, and who is perceived and who isn’t,” as suggested by King.

She points out that while there are many immensely skilled, bright, and remarkable individuals in Kenya, the question remains whether they are receiving the necessary opportunities.

The movie titled ‘The Shadow Scholars,’ showcased at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), was highly commended by Guy Lodge of EbMaster as an absorbing and ethically complex film. This production is based on the research of Patricia Kingori, a sociologist who made history in 2021 as the youngest Black individual to receive a full professorship at Oxford University, situated in the U.K.

In conversation prior to the Joburg Film Festival, King recounted her initial response when EbMaster shared information in 2019 about a flourishing “fake essay” industry based in Kenya, as outlined by a U.K. employment index. “When I first heard that, I wondered: Who writes these fake essays? What is the nature of this situation?” she expressed.

The pair embarked on a journey to Nairobi for an investigation, where Kingori acted as a bridge or connection facilitating access into the hidden realm. However, contrary to King’s expectations of finding cooperative individuals within the vast Kenyan workforce in the industry, they encountered resistance right away. According to the writers they met in Nairobi, their main worries were not only potential social stigma but also the tightening restrictions coming from a legislative standpoint.

As a movie lover, I found an intriguing technique employed by the director in her latest project. Instead of revealing their true selves, she utilized AI-powered “digital veils” to subtly conceal actors’ facial characteristics, maintaining their anonymity on screen. This technology, according to her, creates an unsettling yet captivating effect, hinting at a sense of unease – as if something was not quite perfect about the scene unfolding before us. This choice also echoes her frustration towards the systems that keep these talented individuals hidden in the shadows, depriving them of the full recognition they deserve for their contributions to the art of cinema.

In “The Shadow Scholars,” the focus is primarily on the students who have been caught submitting Kenyan authors’ works as their own, rather than the original writers. The movie presents evidence from a solitary American college student, who expresses concerns about parental pressure, escalating education costs, and the emotional strain of the COVID-19 pandemic while the documentary was being made. King, the director, explains that they didn’t intend to portray those involved in cheating as villains.

Rather than centering on the actual tasks being performed, the film emphasizes the intellectual abilities and consistent creation of unique work by those involved, as noted by King. While many acknowledge the ethical wrong of not receiving credit for their contributions, they seem to prioritize their autonomy in meeting a high demand for this service within the global marketplace. As King explains, “They are fulfilling a need for this.

The ‘Shadow Scholars’ documentary reveals a troubling continuity, as it shows how the business of producing fake academic essays has been woven into a long history of exploitation in Africa, dating back from slavery and colonial times to the present day. This practice enables the transfer of ideas from the South to the North on a global scale, according to King. In one poignant moment of self-reflection in the film, Kingori sadly observes: ‘They covet our ideas, but they don’t want us.’

Originally hailing from Kenya, this professor experiences several instances in the movie where she could have easily found herself in a different situation. Her sense of unfairness runs deep as she ponders the structural flaws that enable students from wealthier societies to benefit financially at the expense of her fellow Kenyans. “If only all that writing were for the benefit of Kenyans instead,” she emotionally reflects, “imagine what Kenya could be like.” This poignant scenario encapsulates King’s description of her mission to not just debunk systems but to redefine collective stories brimming with hope and potential.

She notes that it’s more about exploring the potential existence of these stories. What is this different narrative for Black diaspora or marginalized communities, and what insights could we glean from examining histories that might have been overlooked or expunged? What do they open up in terms of our shared potential?”

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“She emphasizes the importance of investigating these stories, asking about an alternative narrative for Black diaspora or marginalized groups. What might we learn from studying histories that may have been minimized or wiped out? How do they expand our vision of what we can collectively achieve?

The Joburg Film Festival runs March 11 – 16.

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2025-03-13 18:47