FINALLY THE FIRST GRADER COMES HOME!

Celebrated Kenyan film, The First Grader, will be screened in Kenya after making rounds in various international film festivals. The movie about Mzee Maruge, the Kenyan octogenarian who enrolled in primary school in 2003 at the age of 84, will be the festival opener during the ten-day Kenya International Film Festival (KIFF) that will run from October, 21 this year.



The award winning film was selected by the Kenya International Film Festivals (KIFF) Trust as the festival opener because of its relevance and stature among so called “Kenyan films” that have been produced this year. The Festival organisers are currently reviewing over 450 films that have been received in preparation for the annual festivals that will have simultaneous screenings in Nairobi, Nakuru, Mombasa, Eldoret and Kisumu.
The Kenyan based film which was produced by Richard Harding of Sixth Sense Productions has already received ten awards from film festivals worldwide. The film which is based on the true story of Mzee Maruge who started school at the age of 84 features Kenyan actor Oliver Litondo starring as Maruge, also in the cast is award winning actress Naomi Harris as Maruge’s teacher, Vusi Kunene and Tony Kgoroge.



The film is based on the true story of Mzee Maruge, depicts him as an 86 year old man with a desire to read a letter from the Office of the President that had been addressed to him and he wanted to understand the contents of the letter, he is however unable to read as he has never been to school. He then enrolls to begin school upon the government’s directive to offer free primary education.



Charles Asiba the festival director said: “The film is very much in tune with our theme on leadership as it explores the opportunities that came in with a change in governance in Kenya that ushered in a new government that offered free primary education for all”.
This year’s film festivals whose themed is ‘Leadership; the Next Generation’ has surpassed its target of having 365 film. Forty five of the 450 films received by KIFF are Kenyan. The categories with highest entries were 106 short stories and 87 documentaries.
The country which sent in the most films was Kenya with 48 film entries, followed by Germany with 37 films and Poland with 32 films.



Other films that were received were 22 films in the Student films category, 21 Experimental films, 44 animation and 45 feature films.
Asiba said : “From the few films that we have so far classified and had a quick look through, shows that the quality of entries this year have improved. We are very impressed by the level of creativity, style and approach displayed by film makers this year” remarked Asiba.
KIFF jury is currently reviewing the films and will announce and award the winners of each category during the festivals. The categories that will be awarded include Best Short film, Best Student film, Best documentary, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Director, Best East African Film, Best Feature Film as well as Special Jury prize.

FIRST GRADER WINS AUDIENCE AWARD AT DURBAN FILM FESTIVAL

The late Kimani Maruge

The movie about Kenya’s oldest primary school student the late Kimani Maruge was awarded with the Audience Award at the just concluded 32nd Durban International Film Festival.

Oliver Litondo plays Mzee Kimani Maruge

The biographical film about the 84–year-old student dubbed the First Grader is set in a mountain village in Kenya the film tells the remarkable true and uplifting story of a proud old Mau Mau veteran who is determined to seize his last chance to learn to read and write - and so ends up joining a class alongside six year-olds. Together he and his young teacher face fierce resistance, but ultimately they win through - and also find a new way of overcoming the burdens of the colonial past.

Oliver Litondo and Naomie Harris

British actress Naomie Harris (Pirates of the Caribbean) plays Jane Obinchu, Maruge’s teacher who got in trouble for allowing him to sit in class with the 6-year-old students.

South African actor Vusi Kunene and Oliver Litondo

Kenyan journalist and an actor Oliver Litondo, 62, plays Maruge, an octogenarian who did not let age stop him from taking advantage of the Free Primary School initiative to get the education he always wanted.
The is organised by the Centre For Creative Arts (University of KwaZulu-Natal) with support by the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (principal funder), National Film and Video Foundation, KZN Department of Economic Development and Tourism, HIVOS, City of Durban, German Embassy of South Africa, Goethe Institute of SA, Industrial Development Corporation, KZN Department of Arts and Culture, and a range of other partners.

SHUGA 2 ALL ABOUT THE LOVE SEX AND MONEY

MTV Networks Africa, The Staying Alive Foundation, PEPFAR and the Partnership for an HIV-Free Generation (HFG) are to renew their ongoing partnership to produce the second series of hard-hitting sex-and-relationships, HIV and AIDS drama, Shuga, in Kenya. The initiative, funded extensively by the U.S. Government through PEPFAR, will work closely with the Government of Kenya to ensure the programme fits within Kenya’s existing HIV prevention strategy.



Shuga series two, subtitled “Love, Sex, Money”, and associated digital, events and marketing activity will be supported by HFG Global and HFG’s Kenya office through their brand, G pange. The new series will be expanded from three to six episodes and develop the complex emotional storylines first explored in Shuga. Principle photography for the series goes into production in Nairobi in August 2011 and will premier on Valentine’s Day 2012 (14 February) and broadcast around.
Shuga: Love, Sex,Money will be directed by South African director Teboho Mahlatsi and produced by award-winning South African production house, The Bomb Shelter.
The predominantly Kenyan cast for Shuga: Love, Sex, Money will be announced in July 2011. The series will introduce new characters and storylines while additionally endeavouring to motivate and realize specific changes in sexual behaviours. Among the issues likely to be explored in Shuga: Love, Sex, Money are HIV testing, stigma, condom use, gender inequity and the role of multiple concurrent partnerships in driving the HIV epidemic.



First aired in Kenya in November 2009 on MTV Base (DStv Channel 322) and terrestrial stations Citizen TV, KTN, NTV and KBC Channel One, Shuga reached viewers in 48 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and more than 70 TV stations worldwide. It continues to be widely viewed in countries such as Zambia, South Africa and Jamaica, among others, together with a facilitator’s guide for peer educators to engage young people in open discussions and to motivate behaviour change.
The global success of Shuga as a vehicle for HIV and AIDS messaging for youth consumption was undeniable. In May 2010, Shuga won a prestigious Gold award at the World Media Festival in Hamburg, Germany in the “Public Relations: Health” category, for its vivid and uncompromising focus on love, emotions and sexual behaviour amongst Kenyan youth.



“Shuga had a profound impact on the attitudes of Kenyan youth,” commented Lydia Murimi, Country Director, HFG Kenya. “Research conducted by Johns Hopkins University/Centre for Communications Programs reported increased intentions for HIV testing, decreased intentions for multiple sex partners, improved attitudes towards people living with HIV and AIDS and increased usage of accessible health and social services among the youth. We hope to be able to replicate that with the sequel as well as introduce new elements that will emerge from our youth studies.”
Georgia Arnold, Senior Vice President, Executive Director, Staying Alive Foundation commented, “Shuga showed the world that drama and public health messages can work together to effect genuine attitudinal change. Shuga: Love, Sex, Money will build on this foundation to generate real behavioural change in sexual health while also entertaining and engaging youth audiences.”



Alex Okosi, Senior Vice President & Managing Director, MTV Networks Africa said: “We have been overwhelmed by the positive reception that Shuga has received in Africa and around the world. This has been an incredible award-wining campaign for us that has proven to be changing young people’s attitudes towards HIV and AIDS. We are excited about the opportunity to continue the series with the objective of reaching more and more people.”
The first series of Shuga was filmed in Kenya in August-September 2009. Starring a young cast of upcoming Kenyan actors and actresses, Shuga told a bitter-sweet tale of love, loss, sex, heartbreak and relationships, set in the clubs, bars, campuses and hangouts of contemporary Nairobi. With a raw and uncut view on the lives of sexually active young Kenyans, Shuga spot lit the risks associated with unprotected sex and the party-hard lifestyles of urban Kenyan youth, told through the interlinked tales of characters Ayira (Lupita Nyongo), Ty (Pepe Haze), Felix (Tumisho Masha), Violet (Sharon Olago), Skola (David Omwange), Sindi (Valerie Kimani), Leo (Nicholas Mutuma), Kennedy (Antony Mwangi) and Virginia (Eva Kanyang'onda).

GLADIATOR ACTRESS TALKS ABOUT HER KIBERA FILM

Danish actress Connie Nielsen talked about the plight of millions of people around the world who live in slums like Kibera, a place she encountered while making the film Lost in Africa.
Connie told US press that her film “humanizes the lives of people in the slums and makes them real to us, not blankly apathetic the way victims are often portrayed in the press and in films. Of that I am really proud," said Nielsen, who starred opposite Russell Crowe in the Academy Award-winning movie Gladiator (2000).




Lost in Africa debuted in Europe in 2010 with the title Kidnappet (Danish for kidnapped). The film centers on an 11-year-old boy, the soccer-loving Simon, who travels to his native Kenya with his Danish mother (played by Nielsen), who adopted him. While in Kenya, Simon loses his soccer ball and, when he goes looking for it, gets lost in a slum and becomes the target of kidnappers.
The movie which was recently cleared for theatrical releases in East and West Africa, features Kenyan seasoned actors and actresses like Robert Bresson, Godfrey Ojiambo, Gilbert K. Lukalia, Eddy Kimani, Lydia Gitachu, Nice Githinji, Lenny Juma among others. Maasai artiste Teto Tutuma is also featured as a Maasai.

JM KARIUKI'S FAMILY TO ATTEND PREMIERE OF RUGGED PRIEST

Famed and respected film director Bob Nyanja will tomorrow screen his controversial movie that implicates top government officials in murder and conspiracy. The Rugged Priest that is modelled after the life of American Millhill preist Father John Kaiser and his death ten years ago.
Family members of the late JM Kariuki - who was also killed under very clandestine circumstances - will be attending the premiere on March 3 at the NuMetro Theater at Prestige Plaza from 6pm.



The movie synopsis reads: "When violence breaks out in the heart of the Rift Valley, Kenya, an American Catholic priest goes out of his way to shelter and cater for the displaced knowing very well that the clashes are politically instigated. This puts him on a collision path with the powers that be and for being a thorn in the flesh he is transferred to a faraway diocese in Maasai Land.
But even in the remote new posting, the powerful are still riding roughshod over the poor, weak and defenceless. At great personal cost the fearless Rugged Priest, takes on the high and mighty in a fight for justice for his people. With only a rosary, an old rifle and an adopted son who is falling off his priestly calling. How far can the old white priest go?"
Here is the trailer...

TPF JUDGE IAN'S MOVIE TO PREMIER SOON

The mean judge on Tusker Project Fame and long-time thespian Ian Mbugua was cast in a "Hellon-type role" in the up-coming movie Me, My Wife and Her Guru. The movie will soon be released very soon.
Produced by Lizz Njagah and Alex Konstantaras, the movie revolves around Steve (Alexandros Konstantaras) is happily married to Angela (Lizz Njagah), a very successful and upcoming TV presenter. But what happens when his wife starts complaining about his outgoing lifestyle while in the same time she shows unusual interest to a religious Guru (Ian Mbugua) whose P.A. ( Millicent Wambui) dances to his flute? To make things worse Steve gets kidnapped by two not very smart thugs.
The Jitu Films production is inspired by all these stories related to cults and fake pastors.

CALLING ALL FILMAKERS: AMAA COMING TO NAIROBI

Africa Film Academy invites Kenyan filmmakers to submit their feature, short, and documentary works for consideration by the 7th African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA or AMAA Awards), the Premier Africa Film Awards.
AMAA is calling for nominations from the public and stakeholders in the film industry for winners in nearly 30 film categories. The deadline for all submissions is December 30, 2010; a late entry deadline is January 7, 2011. Nominations will be announced in Kenya in February 2011. Submission forms can be downloaded from the Awards Web site.


Lead actor in Hawa Essuman's Soul Boy.

The 7th edition of the AMAAs will be held in April 2011 and will be televised globally. Only films produced and released between December 2009 and December 2010 may be entered for this celebration of African cinema.
The African Movie Academy Awards were founded in 2005. Held annually in Nigeria, the AMAAs is without doubt becoming the most prestigious and glamorous African entertainment industry event of its kind on the continent. Evolving from a one day event -- televised live -- to a diarized annual African event, the AMAA Awards are now an established engagement platform for filmmakers, industry professionals and all creative industry stakeholders.


Hawa Essuman

The primary aim of the AMAA Awards is to facilitate the development and showcase the social relevance of African film and cinema. The awards are presented to recognize and honor the excellence in professionals in the African film industry, including directors, actors and writers, as well as at to unite the African continent through arts and culture.

After the success of the screening of our first Kenyan Ghost Film Haunted on the October 1, Jitu Films are going to make another screening of the same movie.
This time together with Nairobi Utumishi Rotary Club are organising a Special Halloween Fundraising screening on October 30, 7pm at Capital Center Fox Cinemas, Mombasa road.
The tickets will cost Sh 500 and the funds will go towards a Free Medical Camp that Nairobi Utumishi Rotary Club will run in Kibera this coming November (more info about this camp will follow).
Haunted is a spooky kenyan ghost story about Wairimu, a writer who needs some inspiration and in order to overcome her writers block, she decides to follow her brother and his three friends to a field trip adventure in an empty huge house where they used to live when they were very young kids. But the house keeps some secrets that only Wairimu knows. But sooner than later the secrets come forward with the help of a ghostly guest.




Lydia Gitachu is the secretive writer, starring together with David Lomunyak, Boniface Loppoh, Brenda Mwai, Methu Muthoni and guest appearance by Pinky Ghelani. The film is directed by Oskari Korenius and produced by Jitu Films.
Jitu Films are showing their social face and co-operate once more with Rotary International, the world's first service club organization, with more than 1.2 million members in 33,000 clubs worldwide. Rotary club members are volunteers who work locally, regionally, and internationally to combat hunger, improve health and sanitation, provide education and job training, promote peace, and eradicate polio under the motto Service Above Self.
With this co-operation we are trying to say that we can use the arts and in particular movies not only for entertainment but also for bringing awareness to the public and also helping our fellow citizens. We hope that more of these screenings will happen as in the same time showcasing local film talent but also helping a good cause.
Bagda's Auto Spares limited are also sponsoring and supporting this event.
You can book your tickets at jitufilms@gmail.com or you can get them on the day at Capital Center Fox Cinemas.

JITU FILMS TO SCREEN FIRST GHOST MOVIE IN KENYA

Jitu Films will screen the first ever ghost movie on October 1 at the 20th Century Cinemas from 5pm.
The guarded online promos for the Secret Movie Screening is for their latest production release, Haunted.
The movie stars Lydia Gitachu, David Lomunyak, Boniface Loppoh, Brenda Mwai, Methu Muthoni and guest appearance by Pinky Ghelani.


Haunted is a spooky Kenyan story about Wairimu, a writer sufering from writer's block. To overcome this she decides to follow her brother and his three friends to a field trip adventure in an empty huge house where they used to live when they were very young kids.
But the house keeps some secrets that only Wairimu knows. As soon as they arrive in the house, the secrets starts unraveling with the help of the resident ghost.
The film is directed by Oskari Korenius and produced by Jitu Films.
Anyho, here is the trailer to the movie.

MUKABIRA, AN UZINDUZI PLAY

TPF JUDGE PLAYS CON ARTISTE IN NEW FILM

Keep your eye out for a new movie featuring Tusker Project Fame Judge Ian Mbugua. Ian plays The Guru, a religious con, in the yet to be titled movie by Jitu Films.
The Guru, a narcissistic man, uses his charms and 'juju' to hypnotise his secretary, Esther (Millicent Mugadi) and a news anchor Angela (Liz Njagah).
Since he is a man who always gets what he wants, he ends up having an affair with Angela who is married to Steve (Alex Konstantaras).


He later plans to run for political office.
Speaking to Hot Secrets on his role, Ian Said, "Con artists are everywhere, people who use religion to get thier way. It is therefore imperative to test everything as the Bible says."
Milicent who plays the love stricken secretary, Esther, summed up Ian's role as the movie as a "modern day mganga who gets what he wants.” While Liz added, “It’s a caricature of the real life situations.”
The film's director Alex Konstantaras said he intended to sell the movie for TV consumption and not straight to DVD as the company has done previously with the other movie productions.

ERIC WAINAINA COMPOSES MUSIC FOR TINGA TALES

Afro fusion act Eric Wainaina has composed all the music used in the 52-part series of Tinga Tinga Tales, an African folk tales animation co-produced by Homeboyz’ and UK’s Tiger Aspect. The 10-minute shows, which is set to debut on a Citizen TV on Sunday at 5:30pm, also features a cast of Kenyan newbies and stars.
The series based on Kenyan and Tanzanian folk tales stars Red Monkey who is voiced by Eugene Muchiri, a rookie in the field of animation.
Kenyan personalities are also cast in the animation series like Edward Kwach as crocodile and wolf, Achieng Abura is cast as the crow and moose, Corine Onyango as the dragon fly and Peter King as the Chief ant.


Other Kenyans cast members include Porcupine played by Catherine Wambua, Cheetah – Angelina Koinange, Cubs – Tracy Rabar, Mikayla Odera and Cullie Ruto.
The show’s images are hand-painted by Tanzanian artists, Abbasi Mohamedi Rafiki and Zachi Zaburi Chimwanda, which are then animated at the Homeboyz’s Nairobi studio.

HOMEBOYZ ANIMATION TO AIR ON CITIZEN TV

Tinga Tinga Tales, an African folk tales animation series co-produced by Homeboyz’ and UK’s Tiger Aspect, is set to debut on a Citizen TV on Sunday’s at 5:30pm.
The show started airing on BBC’s Cbeebies and Disney’s Playhouse early this year. The 52-part TV series is based on Kenyan and Tanzanian folk tales, with a cheeky monkey cast as the lead character.
When Hot Secrets talked to Homeboyz’ CEO Mike Rabar last year about the series, he said, “We are ecstatic.” The one-year project they have been working on has finally seen the light of day.”
The show’s images were hand-painted by Tanzanian artists, then computer animated in Homeboyz’s Nairobi studio before being shipped to the UK.
The show is sponsored by Safaricom.