International news giant, Al Jazeera, announced on Wednesday, November 9, that it would feature two Kenyan films in a new lineup of short documentaries.
They will be featured on Al Jazeera English’s Africa Direct series which is expected to air on December 6, 2022.
The two films are; Kenya Ice Lions by Moses Obuye and Conservation From Above by Rahab Wambui.
Obuye’s film is set in Kikuyu and Mukuru Kuyaba, Nairobi while Conservation From Above was shot in Rukinga, Kenya.
These are two of 14 engaging and insightful short documentaries from nine African countries that will be featured in the second season of Africa Direct.
The countries represented include Mali, Rwanda, Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon and Mozambique.
The first season of Africa Direct was aired in the year 2021 and it marked the beginning of African films getting featured on the international channel.
Some of the films that were featured in the first season were The Bookmaker, directed by Girum Berehanetsehay, On the White Nile, by filmmaker Akuol de Mabior (South Sudan), in The Young Cyclist by Yuhi Amuli and Joan Kabugu’s Throttle Queens (Kenya).
On Monday, November 7, a local film ‘Medicine Man’ was feted as Kenya’s Best Film in 2022 courtesy of the Lake International PanAfrican Film Festival (LIPFF) film festival which took place in Nakuru County.
The production also yielded the best scriptwriter Edijoe Mwaniki, Best Actor Sammy Ukavi and Best Actress Njoki Wa Njiru.
During during the opening of the Chinese Film Festival 2022 in Nairobi, in October his speech, Youth Affairs, Sports and Arts Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba emphasized the link between Kenya and China's film industry.
“Kenya and China have strong bilateral relations which are underpinned by strong pillars such as the cooperation and exchanges in the film industry,” he stated.
