*Spoiler Warning*
Nairobi Half Life is an outstanding Kenyan film that follows the dreams of a man from his rural home who decided to move to the big city to become an actor. The main character Mwas, played by Joseph Wairimu, starts as a movie salesman in a rural kenyan town who walks around selling and acting out pirated discs of western films. After seeing a traveling theater performance, Mwas decides to move to the big city to enter the film industry; although he quickly realized that the city is not at all what he believed it to be. After a series of unfortunate events that lands him in prison, Mwas enters a life of crime in order to survive all while maintaining his efforts to make it as an actor.
The film, lasting a duration of 96 minutes, was directed by David 'Tosh' Gotinga, a Kenyan man born in Nanyuki, a small town similar to the one in Nairobi Half Life. While the high production behind the film could be attributed to Gotinga's skill as a director, much of its success can also be attributed to the involvement of German director Tom Tykwer and his production company One Fine Day Films. One Fine Day Films is a German funded company that aims to "professionalize" the film industries of less developed countries by providing them with the equipment and techniques needed to produce films that are up to the western standard. The involvement of western techniques and funding is a theme in much of early African cinema; in many cases, the private french financiers were known to fund art films. While the budget for Nairobi Half Life is unknown, given its high production quality it could be assumed to be on par with other art films from the time.
The film itself reflects the reality of what it is to be an actor in African art films. In Nairobi Half Life, Mwas auditions for a local theater group along with many other individuals with proper acting experience; despite the experience of the other actors, the director casts Mwas due to his authenticity and representation of real struggle. This is a similar reality to the casting process for African art films. While in contrast Nollywood tends to cast individuals who can develop stardom through multi-media methods, the casting for art films tend to be non-professional actors who can represent a more authentic life. While commercial actors may bring more attention to the film and can guarantee quality acting, art films tend to de-emphasize individuals and focus on collective struggle. In a similar way, the director character in Nairobi Half Life could have casted one of the many trained actors for Mwas' role, however, director Gotinga likely aimed to reflect his reality as an art film director through the director character in the film.
In all I highly recommend this film. Through its engaging characters, captivating story, and production quality on par with prominent films from the west, Nairobi Half Life is a wonderful film that effectively demonstrates African cinemas ability to break the glass ceiling and compete with the coveted films of the west.
Nairobi Half Life is an outstanding Kenyan film that follows the dreams of a man from his rural home who decided to move to the big city to become an actor. The main character Mwas, played by Joseph Wairimu, starts as a movie salesman in a rural kenyan town who walks around selling and acting out pirated discs of western films. After seeing a traveling theater performance, Mwas decides to move to the big city to enter the film industry; although he quickly realized that the city is not at all what he believed it to be. After a series of unfortunate events that lands him in prison, Mwas enters a life of crime in order to survive all while maintaining his efforts to make it as an actor.
The film, lasting a duration of 96 minutes, was directed by David 'Tosh' Gotinga, a Kenyan man born in Nanyuki, a small town similar to the one in Nairobi Half Life. While the high production behind the film could be attributed to Gotinga's skill as a director, much of its success can also be attributed to the involvement of German director Tom Tykwer and his production company One Fine Day Films. One Fine Day Films is a German funded company that aims to "professionalize" the film industries of less developed countries by providing them with the equipment and techniques needed to produce films that are up to the western standard. The involvement of western techniques and funding is a theme in much of early African cinema; in many cases, the private french financiers were known to fund art films. While the budget for Nairobi Half Life is unknown, given its high production quality it could be assumed to be on par with other art films from the time.
The film itself reflects the reality of what it is to be an actor in African art films. In Nairobi Half Life, Mwas auditions for a local theater group along with many other individuals with proper acting experience; despite the experience of the other actors, the director casts Mwas due to his authenticity and representation of real struggle. This is a similar reality to the casting process for African art films. While in contrast Nollywood tends to cast individuals who can develop stardom through multi-media methods, the casting for art films tend to be non-professional actors who can represent a more authentic life. While commercial actors may bring more attention to the film and can guarantee quality acting, art films tend to de-emphasize individuals and focus on collective struggle. In a similar way, the director character in Nairobi Half Life could have casted one of the many trained actors for Mwas' role, however, director Gotinga likely aimed to reflect his reality as an art film director through the director character in the film.
In all I highly recommend this film. Through its engaging characters, captivating story, and production quality on par with prominent films from the west, Nairobi Half Life is a wonderful film that effectively demonstrates African cinemas ability to break the glass ceiling and compete with the coveted films of the west.