Porn actors takeover Kenyan movie industry

By Amos Kareithi

The restaurant is a market place of ideas, dreams and quick deals as thick clouds of cigarette smoke swirl around the dimly lit room.

Sodas are slowly sipped while alcohol flows freely and tongues loosen, amidst the thundering music.

In this city joint where the old easily fuse with the new as plasma screens display soccer matches live from Europe, romance is measured in liquids and minted currency.

Website for PSAT. TV, which claims to offer satellite TV station for porn even in Kenya.

"With a computer, a printer an a DVD writer, you can make as many movies as you want. There are always people willing to sell them," Mwaki counsels.

Some of the filmmakers have been advertising for their DVDs, which are sold at Sh500, for a set of three.

The phone number listed in the street notices does not connect one to the filmmaker but to a trusted agent who, links the buyer to a distributor.

CCI traced one such distributor in River Road after posing as investors interested in buying the movies in bulk.

The distributor, identified as Papa, was mad with us for straying into his backstreet stores, as he admonished the retailer who had taken us there.

He swore he did not know what we were looking for but only softened at the prospect of learning that we wanted about 200 pieces. After paying a deposit for samples, our investigations took us along Mombasa Road in search of hawkers. "Sisi hatuna noma na gava. Tunawachotea pesa na wanaturuhusu kuuza DVD za Watu wazima (The police are not a problem we give them money and they let us sell the adult DVDs," a hawker told us.

While the amateurs are investing in cottage industries, some serious money has been pumped by some shady operatives.

Porn TV station

Instead of selling the movies in DVDs, a company has set up a pay satellite TV station, which says it gives, its viewers unlimited access to hardcore pornography material.

PSAT.TV billed as the first sex station in Kenya announces on its website: "We are a dedicated hardcore adult entertainment channel. Our aim is to find the best pull-no-shots content with great quality porn stars as well as good attention to production quality."

It claims it has spread to Kenya and Tanzania. The channel charges Sh7,500 for a three-month smart card, which translates into about Sh2,500 per month.

The TV station has another package where one is issued with a smartcard and decoder at Sh14,500 for a three-month viewing. The last package is a smartcard, decoder and a 90 cm satellite dish at Sh17,000 plus Sh3,000 for installation for a period of three months.

In contrast, the rookie moviemakers admit that in their first DVD produced on March 25, 2007, in a lodging in River Road in Nairobi, neither the actors nor the cameramen were trained.

"We want to assure our viewers that in our oncoming movies, we will improve on the quality so that you can enjoy," the moviemakers offer. True to their word, their grainy misty productions have been refined and are now being mass produced in China and availed to the masses in Kenya.

Pirating porn

But there is no honour among thieves as their well-packaged DVDs have been pirated by use of DVD writers and colour photocopiers.

In an ironic turn of events, the father of porn star in Kenya, a shifty dreadlocked slim character who stars in all the movies, has also pirated some of his works.

The porn addicts too are being conned. Despite posting adverts all over town announcing availability of DVDs featuring actors from different communities and areas, the movies are a collection of rehashed old ones.

Although the cover describes erotic scenes in Dholuo and features the actors in the DVD, the actors converse in Kikuyu.

"The viewers are conned but where can they go to complain? The movies are illegal and going to the police would be suicidal," remarks Mwaki.