New film brings to life 1950s Kenyan beats

Kenya’s political, social and musical transformations over the years have been brought to life in a new romantic dance movie titled ‘The Time is Now’.

The movie, directed by Bettina Ng’weno chronicles much of the dance music of 1950s Nairobi, with an African twist. The political tension of pre-independence Kenya is contrasted with the ethereal beauty of the dance amid the gritty industrial context of the railway yards. For the short movie, Ms Ng’weno has enrolled leading Kenyan singer/guitarist Manaseh Uzele, with dancing by salsa stars Wangari Wachira and Stanley Ng’ang’a. Obura Aloo, a newcomer to the film world, is surprisingly electrifying as the politician whose speech motivates the narrative.

Although the seven-minute movie is mostly composed of dance sequences, there is a richness to the plot-lines that evokes different reactions from viewers and is a prequel to a bigger feature film project on the struggle of ordinary people for an acceptable future in face of political and personal uncertainty.

The feature film titled ‘Last Dance in Kaloleni’ is set in 1959 Nairobi on the eve of independence. The story follows the life of Miriam, a young housewife living in African Railway housing estates, who loves to dance. Jolted out of her secure surroundings by her husband Aleke’s industrial accident, she finds herself in the centre of political and personal transformation.

Ng’weno, the writer, director and choreographer of the two works is a Nairobi based cinematographer. ‘Time is Now’ is her first film.