Kitchen Toto

Kenyan film has made large strides in quality and distribution. Encouragingly also, a growing, cultured middle class is adding to the viability of these efforts.

Still, there's scope for improvement and crucially too for the treatment of subjects such as our history and the social issues that have informed our painful progress through times. The dark days of the Kenyatta government, the hunger and horrors of the Moi years and the increasing unemployment and desperation that collar us to this day are all fertile ground for a wealth of ideas that properly done, would make for great movie experiences.

Read more here.

American Malady

Annette Keino's movie review on Michael Moore's latest movie: Sicko.

For me the state of the American system was always a distant uninteresting matter, the anecdotes mere tales much like you would expect from a foreign country. They were brought closer home however when in a debate at university I realized that many of my fellows did not consider free universal healthcare to be not just a priority but a necessity for the just governament of human society. The me-ism of the modern world it seems, decrees that everyone must pay their way through life. Sharing, and carrying others on the communal back is seen as the creep back of socialism, cheap unrealistic sentimentalism. Free services it is said make people dependent and discourage industry.

Read more here.

Provoked to murder

Annette Keino just watched Provoked, a movie based on a real story where a young woman kills her abusive husband. Sadly, Kiranjit Ahluwalia is not unique, there are hundreds, nay thousands of women who are abused each day. Follow the narration and discussion that follows here.

The Kenyan Film Industry

Last month Nigerian films made a sweep at the African Movie Academy Awards. Incidentally, only one film from Kenya was nominated, Voice in the Bin for Best Film.

A quick glance at the nominees shows that Nigerians had the most number of nominees in any category. Nigerian films have become increasingly popular in Kenya and the rest of Africa.

Every street corner has hundreds of these films-- a dime a dozen. When I first watched them I was amused by the Nigerian character. However, the charm soon wore off and the yelling and juju-filled stories only irritate me. There are not too many African films to write home about, however, Totsi from a few years ago comes to mind as a great story.

Read as Amina Mohamed urges the Kenyans to produce better films.