The Kenyan film industry has been eventful this first half of the year. Both the public and private sectors are putting in the work and more importantly working together.
One such collaborative event we were recently part of is the launch of MyMovies.Africa™ Watch Parties at iHub, which is supported by the Kenya Film Commission. The debut of MyMovies.Africa™ Watch Party at iHub Nairobi was also the Launch of the #WeWatchKenyan movement, which is building a community of Kenyan Creatives watching Kenyan Content, as well as constructively critiquing and promoting. MyMovies.Africa™ also has a partnership with Creative Economy Practice (CEP), giving it exclusive rights to use iHub Nairobi’s STAWI Space to stream, via its Digital Cinema Extension service once per month, from July 2022 to December 2022.
Why You Hate Review
The MyMovies.Africa™ team were kind enough to reach out and offer us complimentary tickets to the event which goes to show their dedication and commitment to their mission. We arrive at iHub at 6 pm and the room is already full of other local actors, musicians and movie lovers. The cast and production team of the first Kenyan movie being screened “Why U Hate” were also in attendance.
Why U Hate is a movie by Dreamhouse Entertainment that was filmed in 2020 by film school students. The movie has gone ahead to win awards and plans are underway to produce more sequels. It’s an engaging film that tells the story of a young man called Kwame caught up in life’s hustles in Nairobi that turn violent preventing him from settling back in “shagz” after saving up. His love interest Yasmira is the cause of all this and his childhood does not help much either.
Watching the movie; we were all at the edge of our seats and impressed by the scenes and performance of the actors.
QnA Takeaways
After the movie; a QnA session gave us more insight into the movie and among the issues that came up were budget constraints, the importance of awards, what more KFC can do for the industry, and the main message the movie wanted to spread which is mental health awareness. “Winning awards is important because it helps more people watch your movie.” said one of the producers responding to a question from the audience. The movie was recognized at the Durban Film Festival.
“Currently, most Films in Kenya (and Africa) are actually Startups, needing the same Support as a Tech Startup. As such, we’re confident that this Partnership will be another win-win for MyMovies.Africa™ and our Filmmakers.” Mr. Mike Strano, Co-Founder of YAKWETU™.
The rest of the comments were complements to the whole team for an entertaining and well-done movie that was relatable to everyone in the audience. “I loved the way you guys Kenyan hip hop in the movie.” said one speaker. It was also quite informative to hear from the Dream House team about how the story came about and evolved with time as well as their creative processes.
Be sure to make a plan to attend a future screening and vibe with the great minds and talent in Kenyan film. https://www.instagram.com/mymoviesafrica/
