PINI (Safety Pin)

THE FILM

ONE SMALL PIN. ONE VERY BIG PROBLEM.

A secret conversation, a SIM card change and one unfortunate accident. Sometimes, the smallest things can turn an ordinary workday upside down.

In PINI (Safety Pin), Sam, a company manager, accidentally swallows a safety pin while changing his phone SIM card to communicate privately with his lover, Eva.

What follows is anything but a quiet day at the office.

As news of the accident spreads, his co-workers Boni and Lety step in to help. But their concern soon turns into a series of increasingly unconventional attempts to retrieve the pin. With every solution seemingly more absurd than the last, the office becomes the setting for an unexpected crisis.

Just when things seem to have reached a dead end, an electrician arrives with an unusual idea that might finally solve the problem.

Blending comedy and drama, PINI turns an everyday workplace into a lively exploration of friendship, human ingenuity and the unpredictable ways people respond when things go wrong.

WHEN THE WORKPLACE BECOMES THE STORY

Beyond its unusual premise, PINI draws from the everyday situations that can suddenly turn into moments of crisis.

Through humour and familiar workplace characters, the film explores how people respond when conventional solutions fail. It celebrates the resourcefulness found in everyday Tanzanian workplaces and the unexpected ways collective effort can become the answer to an individual problem.

As Michael puts it, the story may be simple, but it reflects something familiar: people finding ways to figure things out together.

THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY

Sometimes, a filmmaking challenge begins with an everyday object and a very short deadline.
For Michael Loy, PINI began with the Mkoba Challenge, an Instagram filmmaking challenge under the theme of incorporating one of three objects into a film: a safety pin, a water bottle or a phone charger.
Finding a story that could naturally bring one of these objects into the narrative took several attempts. Eventually, the idea for PINI emerged.
But coming up with the story was only the beginning.
The team had just five days to complete and submit the film. What was initially planned as a one-day production stretched into three days, with two days dedicated to filming the accident scene. Editing had to begin alongside production, and by the fourth day, the team had its first draft.
Filming on a busy street brought another challenge: controlling the sound. Cars, conversations and music from nearby homes made it difficult to capture clean audio. The team had to negotiate with people around the location, and sometimes even compensate them to help keep the environment quiet. Eventually, some people began making noise deliberately in the hope of being paid to stop — thankfully, filming was already complete by then.
Then came the scene that would test everyone's patience: Sam swallowing the safety pin.
The team wanted the moment to feel believable while retaining its comedic effect. It took 25 attempts before they finally got the shot they wanted on take 26.
And the deadline? The film was submitted just 20 minutes before time ran out.
What began as a simple Instagram challenge became an intense creative exercise in problem-solving, collaboration and making the most of limited time. PINI went on to win first place in the Mkoba Film Challenge.

FROM THE FILMMAKER

Michael Loy is a Tanzanian filmmaker who wrote and directed PINI (Safety Pin).

Inspired by an everyday object and created under the pressure of a short filmmaking challenge, the film became an opportunity to experiment with comedy, collaboration and storytelling within tight creative limitations.