From: wsargeant@igc.apc.org (Winslow L. Sargeant)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.african
Subject: PS:Kenya, box offices overwhelmed as l'
Date: 27 Jul 92 14:19:59 GMT

/* Written 12:06 am  Jul 26, 1992 by newsdesk in cdp:ips.englibrary */
/* ---------- "KENYA: BOX OFFICES OVERWHELMED AS L" ---------- */
Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Area: Agriculture
Reference: Science & Industry
Title: KENYA: BOX OFFICES OVERWHELMED AS LOCAL FILM HITS SCREEN


an inter press service feature

by pamphil h. kweyuh

nairobi, jul 23 (ips) -- kenya has turned away from hollywood to
home with a maasai country girl as the star of the first feature
movie from the nascent film industry in this east african
country.

when 'saikati' arrived on nairobi screens jul. 10, industry
critics here were fearful that it would flop.

''i thought the film would fail right from the time the
operator switched on the reel to run'', a senior official in
kenya government's film department, more accustomed to churning
out documentaries, told ips.

but 'saikati', named after the principal actor who at a
tender age defies a marriage proposal by a chief's son in order
to pursue education, has proven that kenya has talents to match
hollywood stars.

since its premiere, 'saikati' has been an unparalleled
box-office success at nairobi cinema theatre. cinemagoers in the
kenyan capital welcome the full-length film as a departure from
what the west has to offer, relating to an african setting and
culture.

''saikati'', says richard kimani of nairobi cinema, ''has
attracted more viewers than american movies that we have lately
shown''.

anne mungai, producer-cum-director of 'saikati' is now being
feted as a future kenyan award winner at international film
festivals.

mungai, a film lecturer at the state-run kenya institute of
mass communication, has done what nobody had cared to do all
along -- to produce a film with locally available resources,
remarked kenya's minister for information and broadcasting,
burudi nabwera.

speaking at the inauguration of 'saikati', nabwera said:
''the excuse has always been that we are not ready for the
plunge into film-making because we have inadequate resources ...
so nothing has come out of indigenous kenyan all along.''

the story of saikati unfolds in a maasai traditional village
where she struggles against all odds to pursue her education in
nairobi. in the metropolis she fights off the lures of
prostitution until she gets to the top of the educational
ladder. (more/ips)


kenya: box offices (2)

mungai's objective was to feature a marginal community -- the
pastoralist maasai -- usually looked down upon because of their
adherence to tradition.

''the task ahead of anne mungai was immense. she confounded
cash constraints, bias against local 'non-traditional themes'
and even filmgoer inclinations, to come out with saikati'', says
eulalee namai, head of the film department at the institute of
mass communication.

''the hour of kenya's plunge into the film industry has
finally come'', says namai, also a trainer and producer of
television programmes.

according to industry experts, production of the film at
120,000 dollars cost much less than normal. ''the money was
raised by way of sponsorship, most of it in kind'', mungai said.

''i however feel so great that a theatre finally accepted to
show a completely local production. my previous interest in
getting support from a film house to produce and show a film was
always met with the same answer -- it will be a loss'', she
recalls.

kenya film corporation has gambled in the past with a
local production. in 1988-89 it donated 300,000 dollars to
assist pioneer feature film producer sao gamba whose effort
never saw the light of day. ''the corporation may never recover
the cost of producing 'kolarmask''', gamba admits.

''the problem here has been that a film fetches a maximum
50,000 dollars in up to five weeks of showing. any subsequent
shows in lesser movie houses raise nothing beyond that figure in
total'', he told ips.

gamba, who distributes films for the corporation, adds that
local producers had been scared by the heavy costs involved in
film making. he says the industry has a future in kenya if films
would be exported in order to bring in foreign earnings.

'saikati' could be the one. (end/ips/phk/ar/oa/92)