Movie Reel Photo: Courtesy
Late last week, an expose -- two personal letters that uncovered a confrontation between the Kenya Film Commission (KFC) and the Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF) — created a major buzz in the local entertainment scene.
It wasn’t funny. There was no acting. The industry was up in arms.
In the confrontaional letter dated November 5, 2013, the author, Chris Foot, the board chairman of KFC, sounded displeased by YEDF move to create the recently launched artistes-led Vijana Film Loan, an arm within YEDF to benefit the film industry through loans.
Foot was angered that his board had not been involved in the formulation of the fund and with that he went ahead to allude how the fund would undermine the roles his board is mandated to play. It was a Sh30 million subject, an enviable figure by all standards, that compared poorly with KFC’s annual budget.
However, hearing none of it, the same day, the YEDF chairman, Gor Semelang’o slammed Foot on the face with stern response.
“Firstly, the Youth Enterprise Development Fund is not creating another fund. The fund has adopted a sector-specific funding model that has resulted in rolling our several loan products, one of which is Vijana film loan,” Semelang’o’s response letter read in part.
“We are hopeful that you will continue with your onerous mandate of developing film makers and look forward to a fruitful co-operation in addressing the challenges of film financing among the youth working in the film industry in Kenya,” it concluded.
Irked by what was perceived as a coup attempt against the newly appointed Youth Film Fund officials, the film industry went into circus, with many challenging the KFC to tell the industry what it has done for it over the years. Many accused the government body of laxity with some saying it was responsible for the poor state of the Kenyan film industry whose untapped potential remains enormous.
“How come Lupita Nyong’o has now become the face of the Kenyan film industry? With all her talent and that of many others who are still acting locally, how come the KFC, and its subsidiaries, have not over the years come up with a strategy to help stakeholders in local film tap the great gains in the industry?” one Mike Oloo wondered.
Locally, while the local television industry seems to have experienced a spurt of growth courtesy of the investment into the industry by pay television networks resulting in a long list of new local series, the film industry seems to be experiencing just the opposite.
Last year, apart from Something Necessary, Distant Boat and House of Lungula, no other film was released at the local cinemas. And even more alarming is the fact that the annual Kenya International Film Festival and the Kalasha Awards did not take place. In fact, Pulse overheard that the annual Kalasha Awards, the only film awards in Kenya supported by the government, are no longer in the top priority list of KFC.
Kenya has produced or has been an ideal location for shooting films since the early 1950s when Men Against the Sun was filmed (in 1952). It has been over 60 years but the film industry is yet to take off. With all the wrangles that have bedevilled the sector over the decades, is there light at the end of the tunnel or have we simply lost direction?
Over the years and so with minimal, if not zero government support, the local film industry has churned out a number good feature films, including Dangerous Affair, Project Daddy and Money & the Cross, Babu’s Babies, Naliaka is Going, The Price of a Daughter, Behind Closed Doors, The Green Card, Malooned, All Girls Together, Help, From a Whisper , Mob Doc, R2 Security and Zeinabu Rudi Nyumbani.
Others are Chasing Moses, Selfish, Me, My Wife and Her Guru, Otto the Bloodbath, Toto Millionaire, Togetherness Supreme, Kibera Kid, The Oath, The Battle of the Sacred Tree, Saikati and Nairobi Half Life, just to mention a few.
However, without creating an enabling environment and putting in place structures for these productions to thrive, it remains a heartbreaking venture that leaves film producers broke, with no one to cry to.
When it comes to the Oscar buzz, only one local film has the bragging rights: Nairobi Half Life. While Out of Africa received seven academy awards, Nowhere in Africa and Constant Gardner won one each. Funny enough, all these films were done by foreigners.
Further, not many local mainstream films can brag about turning in Hollywood-type of profits but only festival success.
In an attempt to help grow the industry in 2005, the government helped establish the Kenya Film Commission (KFC), which came into operation in mid-2006, and falls under the Ministry of Information and Communication.
The Kenya Film Commission goals were to promote the industry not only within the country but to raise international awareness and interest from potential investors, to support Kenya’s film industry by providing facilities for screening and filming and organising various workshops to educate local filmmakers seeking to enter film production, facilitate the filming process for filmmakers. The commission was also to establish a database that would list film directors, producers, agents, local talent, stakeholders and service providers to raise the profile of the Kenyan film industry.
“KFC is not doing anything to help grow the local film industry. It seems more interested in promoting Kenya as a film shooting location and not in promoting the players or work from the local industry. How many local films do you know that were released last year?” Cajetan Boy, who has been a filmmaker for over 10 years, laments.
He also believes that while it is great to have foreign film companies shooting in Kenya, it does not necessarily help to grow the industry.
“When foreigners come to shoot their movies, they come with their own principal crew. KFC should focus more on developing local contacts rather than encouraging foreigners to come shoot films here ,” Boy notes.
John Karanja, a Riverwood filmmaker, believes that more can be done.
“Seven years down the line after the formation of the KFC, the industry is still being controlled by very limited laws. Other than the new constitution which talks about intellectual properties and freedom of the media, the industry can only claim to have the medieval Cap 222, which establishes the Kenya Film Classification Board,” says Karanja. There is also a need for a curriculum audit on what is trained in terms of skills.
“Creativity development and technical exchange programmes, not forgetting mentorship and entrepreneurship based on sound economic service, are necessity if the industry is to grow,” he notes.
Charles Asiba, who was KFC director for three years, and is currently the director of Kenya Copyright boards, concurs.
“The Kenyan film industry seems to be going to the dogs. The migration of filmmakers to television production does not help matters. The investment by pay televisions in the end may harm the industry,” Asiba reasons.
On what happened to the Kalasha Awards and the Kenya International Film Festival, he says: “I ran the Kenya International Film Festival for seven years without a salary. It in fact cost me money from my own pocket and last year, we were not able to host it. You cannot carry everything on your back. Also, when I was a KFC board member, we initiated the Kalasha Awards back in 2010. If you want to find out what happened last year, I guess you will have to ask KFC.”
However, when I asked the former acting CEO of the Kenya Film Commission, Eric Mwangi, why the Kalasha Awards did not happen in 2013, and if it was a sign that the industry was doing badly, he stated that everything is still on course.
“Nobody should be alarmed. The Kalasha Awards are still set to happen. We are following the government’s financial year and hope to have the awards around June,” he said.
“Last year, we were able to take about 10 filmmakers from the local industry to the Cannes Film Festivals. We have also been carrying out training all over the country. Furthermore, we have a huge international film that will be shot in Kenya this year. Also the Film Policy is in its last stages, and we are recruiting people and building our internal capacity so we can better serve the industry,” he says.
For now, KFC has no CEO.
However, whichever way you choose to look at it, three feature films in a year is not anything to write home about? Or it is? Over to you KFC!
