Seasoned producer and adjudicator Wycliffe Amayoka Tsinje Buhere famously known as "Msiani" has been appointed to the Oscars Kenyan Chapter as a committee member.
On Saturday, August 8, Kenya Films Commission Markering Director Alex Mulwa confirmed the appointment, lauding Buhere for his skills and sacrifice to the country's film industry.
"Yes, he was appointed and he will join us. He is one of the best personnel in Kenya's film industry," Mulwa stated while speaking with Kenyans.co.ke.
The Oscars Selection Committee Kenya is an extension of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and nominates Kenyan films for the Oscar Awards.
In September 2019, the committee submitted Ravneet Chadha's Subira for consideration in the international feature Oscar category for 2020 Oscars.
Subira is an award-winning 2007 short film which was turned to a feature-length drama. It tells the story of a young girl from Lamu, who loves swimming and fishing with her father, but after he dies in a boating accident, she is conformed to her mother’s traditional upbringing.
Buhere will be part of the committee tasked with marketing Kenyan films and he brings aboard years of experience and passion.
He has nurtured many of the actors on Kenyan TV dramas and has also contributed to the growth and careers of several journalists.
In 2017, his piece The Mirage performed by Kenya Institute of Mass Communication (KIMC) won the best choral verse at the Kenya Schools and Colleges Drama Festival in Kisumu.
In 2018, KIMC also shone with a poem dubbed The Emoji written by Buhere. The piece warns youth to be wary of strangers they meet on social media.
The facilitator serves as the Chairperson of the Metropolitan Technical Colleges Drama Festival. The metropolitan region includes Nairobi, Kajiado, Makueni and Machakos.
Kenya boasts of a minute history in the Oscars, with actor Lupita Nyong'o being the first Kenyan to win an Oscar in 2014.
In July 2020, two more Kenyan filmmakers were inducted into the Oscars Academy. Toni Kamau and Wanjiru Njendu, joined Lupita Nyong'o, producer Wanuri Kahiu and Judy Kibinge
The two were among 819 artists and producers who were invited to join the academy in line with the institution's A2020 initiative to double the number of women and underrepresented ethnic/racial communities by 2020.
