Cinema of Kenya
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| Cinema of Kenya |
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| List of Kenyan films |
| Kenya Film Commission |
| Hot Sun Foundation |
| Lola Kenya Children's Screen |
Cinema of Kenya refers to the film industry of Kenya. Although a very small industry in western comparison, Kenya has produced or been a location for film since the early 1950s when Men Against the Sun was filmed in 1952. Although, in Hollywood, jungle epics that were set in the country were shot in Hollywood as early as the 1940s.
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[edit] Kenyan cinema
Rather than featured films with fictional content, Kenya has mostly produced documentary films and short films often relating the conditions of the people and poverty in the main cities of Kenya. Since 2000 documentary film production has increased in the country and films such as 2006's I Want to Be a Pilot relates an emotional tale of a young boy living in poverty in Nairobi who has dreams and aspirations of becoming an airline pilot and being set free from his life of hardship.
Kibera Kid directed by Kenyan director Nathan Collett is a short twelve minute film which covers themes of crime and poverty in the slums of Kibera, Nairobi and also morality as the young protagonist must make a choice between living with a gang of thieves or living a life free of crime. The story is fictional but the circumstances and reality depicted are not. The film received seven international awards and received attention at various film festivals worldwide including the Berlin Film Festival and it was accoladed with a Student EMMY in Hollywood. It has been profiled by BBC, Reuters, Al Jazeera English and many others. [1]
Other than this directors such as Collett have shot other short films such as The Oath, a 2005 historical short set in the 1950s during the Mau Mau uprising under the British colonialism in Kenya. It portrays the struggle between two brothers on opposite sides fo the conflict. Many of the actors used in the film were descents of Mau Mau fighters.
Whilst the number of films shot in the country has increased in recent years, the country lacks the financial resources and investment needed to produce larger scale feature films and employ professional actors. It is far behind other African film producers such as South Africa and Egypt who have been producing feature films since the early twenthieth century.
The Kenyan government has made a conscious effort to develop Kenyan cinema as an industry, and in 2005 the government helped establish the Kenya Film Commission (KFC) which came into operation in mid-2006. The Kenya Film Commission aims to promote the industry not only within the country but to raise international awareness and interest from potential investors. The commission falls under the Ministry of Information and Communication that is headed by Mutahi Kagwe. It supports the Kenyan film industry by providing facilities for screenings and filming and organising various workshops to educate local film-makers seeking to enter film producion. It is also responsible for advising on licensing and immigration; as well as facilitate the filming process for film makers. The Commission is also establishing a database that will list film directors, producers, agents, local talent, stakeholders and service providers to raise the profile of the Kenyan film industry [2].
In Nairobi the Hot Sun Foundation was established to help train and expose the talents of young people living in the areas of poverty and educate them in filmmaking, acting, script writing, camerawork. The foundation was responsible for producing films such as Kibera Kid.
[edit] Films
[edit] Festivals
The annual Lola Kenya Children's Screen film festival was established by arts and culture journalist and writer Ogova Ondego in October 2005. Deriving its name from a Bantu language meaning watch or see films in Kenya, the first edition of the festival was held in Nairobi between August 7 and August 12, 2006. The film festival which is also a production workshop focuses on films by children and youth where children are given the opportunity to participate in the film selection committee, programme presentation, film jury members, and in filming short films. Following the first event in 2006, the best films made entered the Grand Prize at the Kids Africa festival, and have been shown in countries such as Germany, Poland and Brazil and other African countries such as South Africa and Senegal [3]. The festival gives aspiring children the opportunity to collaborate with international partners and to also educate them in film production, screenplay writing, cinematography, in the art department, and even sound .
[edit] Films shot in Kenya
The film Maasai: The Rain Warriors a cinematic epic was shot entirely in Kenya but cast a number of local Maasai warriors who spoke Maa dialogue in the arthouse film. The films relates the story of a group of young Maasai warriors, Lomotoon and Merono sent on a mission to travel through the entirety of Kenya on foot, hunting a mythical lion responsible for bringing about a major drought, and by doing so bringing back the rain. The film brought the rural Kenyan landscape to the silver screen and innovatively incorporated traditional Maasai song with a symphony orchestra. It was developed in partnership with the Maasai community, and actual tradition and legends were used as a basis for the story and used tribesmen from the Loita Hills area with no former acting experience [4].
The 1985 film, Out of Africa starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford was shot in Kenya and revealed Kenya’s colonial history in romantic drama film. It retold the story of Danish author’s Karen Blixen’s love affair with Kenya and Hunter Denys Finch Hatton in particular.
In 1999 the Canadian produced film was shot in Kenya, To Walk with Lions .
[edit] References
- ^ Kenya's Kibera kid savours stardom, BBC News, August 20, 2007. Retrieved January 24, 2008
- ^ Filmingkenya.com, Retrieved January 24, 2008
- ^ Official site of the Lola Kenya Children's Screen, Retrieved January 24, 2008
- ^ MagicalKenya.com, Retrieved January 24, 2008
