04 octobre 2006
Riverwood
Because I don't really have time to write at the moment, I figured I could post the scripts of some of the stories I've been working on lately.
Here's the first one, on Kenya's booming low-budget film industry. It can't competing with Bollywood or even Nollywood (the Nigerian industry) quite yet, but it's becoming quite popular among a certain category of the population who might not have access to cinemas or understand English.
River road in Nairobi. This bustling street is one of the main distribution centres of Kenya's fledgling low-budget film business.
Cheap digital technology has boosted an industry long-stifled by red tape and the high cost of celluloid film, and given birth to a dream factory with a name all of its own. Welcome to Riverwood.
Despite lacking the gloss of the Hollywood output that fills Kenya's cinemas, these films are becoming increasingly popular, thanks to the low cost of the disks -- around three dollars -- and the use of local languages.
Mary Muthoni, Sales person
“You know, we like to promote our African people, maybe plus Kenyan comedians.”
For Bob Nyanja, Riverwood is doing what conventional Kenyan producers like him have been trying to do for years: create a screen culture in a country where many people have never been to the cinema.
Bob Nyanja, Director, Cinematic Solutions
“They're opened up the market, they're selling down on River Road, what some if us on the other side of town have struggled to do, we tried to go to the supermarket and realised that no, it's not working very well. I think they're going to get better.”
But to get to the next step, Kenya's producers will have to convince banks and sponsors that the movie industry is worth investing in.
Bob Nyanja, Director, Cinematic Solutions
“The film making model hasn't been instilled within the Kenyan set-up. No one looks at a film as a business or as a profit making thing. It's still something done by a few film crazies or interested people.”
While its stunning landscapes have long been favored by makers of such international films as “Out of Africa” or the recent “Constant Gardener”, Kenya has yet to d much more to promote domestic production.
But this might be about to change. The hope today lies in the bands new Kenyan Film Commission. Created 3 months ago to lobby in favor of local film making, the commission acknowledges Riverwood’s potential.
Wachira Waruru, Chief Executive, Kenyan Film Commission
“That is the future of the Kenyan film industry. These are low budget movies been made for the ordinary citizen. The quality might not be that good, but it's ordinary citizens communicating with each other.”
With a proven and enthusiastic market, and specialized training in the pipeline, Riverwood ought to be able to attract the investment needed to make Kenya known as a producer of major films, rather than a mere backdrop for them.
