The new toilets and showers are not much to look at.

But to those living in the squalor of Kibera – subSaharan Africa's largest slum, located in Kenya's capital, Nairobi – the basic cubicles are a welcome relief.

"This is so much better," says Benjamin Agunda, emerging from one of the showers. "Before this block was here, I used to wash only at night, when no one was around to see, using a bucket that I would fill with water."

The simple sanitation facility – six toilets and two showers – has been built with money raised by a trust fund started by the makers the 2005 hit film "The Constant Gardener." It may seem like a small humanitarian gesture from a group awash in show-business cash, but it stands as a symbol of Tinseltown's newfound interest, not just in churning out films set in Africa, but in transforming box-office success into tangible help for Africans in need.

Stars and directors of newer films such as "The Last King of Scotland" and "Blood Diamond" are following suit.

Parts of "The Constant Gardener" were filmed in Kibera, where almost a million people live in an area the size of Manhattan's Central Park.

Since filming ended a little over two years ago, the trust – which can boast having the stars Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz along with director Fernando Meirelles among its patrons – has quietly plowed some $200,000 into projects in Kibera and Loiyangalani, a rural location in the north of Kenya.

The donation comes at a time when Africa is all the rage in Hollywood.

"The Last King of Scotland," telling the story of former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin's brutal and bizarre reign, won plaudits for star Forest Whitaker when it went on limited release in September.

And "Blood Diamond," featuring heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio, opened earlier this month. Filmed partly in Mozambique, it is about Africa's illegal "conflict diamond" trade.

Its producers found themselves accused of exploiting locals as extras, but cast and crew members have set up and contributed to the "Blood Diamond Charity Fund," which has goals that include digging wells, building roads and schools, delivering food, and providing medical assistance.

Accusations of exploitation are just one of the potential pitfalls of filming in Africa.

Simon Channing-Williams, producer of "The Constant Gardener," had been advised not to risk filming in Kenya's volatile and disease-ridden slums but to film in South Africa instead.

He refused, preferring authenticity to convenience, and said he was moved by the friendship and support the cast and crew found in Kibera.

"It was also that in this extraordinary adversity, they were amazingly happy, positive people. The day wasn't going to get them down," he said by telephone from England.

Determined to make a difference, Mr. Channing-Williams sought advice from the then British High Commissioner, Sir Edward Clay, and high-profile Kenyans.

Page: 1 | 2