Cinema of Kenya
Encyclopedia
The cinema of Kenya refers to the film industry of Kenya
. Although a very small industry in western comparison, Kenya has produced or been a location for film since the early 1950s when Men Against the Sun was filmed in 1952. Although, in Hollywood, jungle epics that were set in the country were shot in Hollywood as early as the 1940s.
s often relating the conditions of the people and poverty in the main cities of Kenya. Since 2000 feature films on DV technology production have increased in the country. They include Dangerous Affair, Project Daddy and Money & the Cross by Njeri Karago, Babu's Babies by Christine Bala, Naliaka is going by Albert Wandago, The price of a Daughter and Behind closed doors by Jane Murago-Munene, The Green Card by Brutus Sirucha, Malooned by Bob Nyanja, All Girls Together by Cajetan Boy, Help by Robert Bresson and From a Whisper
by Wanuri Kahiu
. Numerous short fictions are also on the increase such as Ras Star by Wanuri Kahiu, Subira by Kenya-based Indian film director Ravneet Sippy Chadha, Life in D Major by Angelo Kinyua, and Extracts of Me by William Owusu.
Other low-budget independent filmmakers using digital technology to shoot their films and sell them locally on DVD and VCD format have spawned the Riverwood Industry. Though it originally takes it name from River-road, the busy street where music tapes and electronics are sold, Riverwood is fast capturing the attention of the mainstream TV stations and pan-African broadcasters. Mburu Kimani's The Race earned an award at the inaugural Kalasha Awards (Kenya's TV and Film Awards) for Best Riverwood Film. Other films in this genre include Simiyu Barasa's Toto Millionaire (2007), and numerous other vernacular films like Kihenjo and Machangi
Films such as 2006's I Want to Be a Pilot
relates an emotional tale of a young boy living in poverty in Nairobi who has dreams and aspirations of becoming an airline pilot and being set free from his life of hardship.
Film such as 2010's Togetherness Supreme a fictional feature flm by Nathan Collett
have received national and international attention for revealing some of issues affecting Kenyan society. Togetherness Supreme tells the story of Kamau, an artist, who uses his talent to promote change in Kibera
. Togetherness Supreme tells a story of love, conflict, and ultimately, of reconciliation.
Kibera Kid
directed by Kenya-based director Nathan Collett
is a short twelve minute film which covers themes of crime and poverty in the slums of Kibera
, Nairobi
and also morality as the young protagonist must make a choice between living with a gang of thieves or living a life free of crime. The story is fictional but the circumstances and reality depicted are not. The film received seven international awards and received attention at various film festivals worldwide including the Berlin Film Festival and it was accoladed with a Student EMMY in Hollywood. It has been profiled by BBC
, Reuters
, Al Jazeera English and many others.
Other than this directors such as Collett have shot other short films such as The Oath, a 2005 historical short set in the 1950s during the Mau Mau uprising
under the British colonialism in Kenya. It portrays the struggle between two brothers on opposite sides of the conflict. Many of the actors used in the film were descents of Mau Mau fighters.
Whilst the number of films shot in the country has increased in recent years, the country lacks the financial resources and investment needed to produce larger scale feature films and employ professional actors. It is far behind other African film producers such as South Africa
and Egypt
who have been producing feature films since the early twentieth century.
The Kenyan government has made a conscious effort to develop Kenyan cinema as an industry, and in 2005 the government helped establish the Kenya Film Commission
(KFC) which came into operation in mid-2006.
The Kenya Film Commission aims to promote the industry not only within the country but to raise international awareness and interest from potential investors. The commission falls under the Ministry of Information and Communication that is headed by Samuel Poghisio
. It supports the Kenyan film industry by providing facilities for screenings and filming and organising various workshops to educate local film-makers seeking to enter film production. It is also responsible for advising on licensing and immigration; as well as facilitate the filming process for film makers. The Commission is also establishing a database that will list film directors, producers, agents, local talent, stakeholders and service providers to raise the profile of the Kenyan film industry.
In Nairobi the Hot Sun Foundation
was established to help train and expose the talents of young people living in the areas of poverty and educate them in filmmaking, acting, script writing, camerawork. The foundation was responsible for producing films such as Kibera Kid.
(also known as Lola Kenya Children's Screen) film festival was established by creative and cultural entrepreneur, arts and culture journalist and creative writer Ogova Ondego in October 2005. Deriving its name from a Bantu language word meaning watch or see films in Kenya, the first edition of the festival was held in Nairobi
between August 7 and August 12, 2006. The film festival which is also a production workshop and audiovisual media market, focuses on films by, for and with children and youth where children are given the opportunity to participate in the film selection, programme presentation, film jury, and in the making of short films. Following the first event in 2006, Films by Children for Children, the first nine-short animation made won the Grand Prize at the 5th World Summit on Media for Children/1st Kids for Kids Africa festival, and went on to be shown in countries such as Germany
, Poland
, Finland
, Kenya
, Australia
, China
, Denmark
, and Brazil
and other African countries such as South Africa
, Rwanda
, Tanzania
, Uganda
, Congo-Kinshasa and Senegal
.
The second production, a three-film and three-song compilation titled African Folk Tales Animated, has been shown in all the continents including Oceania and has picked three awards—Most Creative Project, Special Jury Prize, Africa Grand Prize—in Africa and Europe. The third production, Africa-i-Motion, was made in 2008 and is currently on the children and youth film circuit.
The festival gives aspiring children the opportunity to collaborate with international partners and to also educate them in film production, screenplay writing, cinematography
, and in the art department and sound production.
Eastern Africa’s premier audiovisual media platform for children and youth, Lola Kenya Screen has between August 2006 and August 2008 showcased more than 1200 films from 71 nations representing all the six continents in various genres, formats and lengths. Additionally, Lola Kenya Screen has helped add 31 child filmmakers, 14 journalists, 13 film judges, 7 MCs, 15 producers of television drama for children and youth and 6 producers of documentary films for children and youth to eastern Africa’s creative and cultural spectrum.
The 3rd Lola Kenya Screen (August 11–16, 2008), attracted participation from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe, with all participants coming in to watch the wide variety of films from 56 nations and to be equipped with skills for making films, appreciating and judging audiovisual media production, presenting programmes and filing daily reports on the festival.
Lola Kenya Screen was conceived as a movement that uses appropriate and available technologies to deliver audiovisual media content that complements, enhances, entertains and promotes learning among children and youth in the promotion of literacy, gender equity, independent thought, human rights, environmental responsibility and global health.
Through her programmes, Lola Kenya Screen explores, identifies and nurtures creative talent among children and youth in areas such as journalism, film-making, arts appraisal and appreciation, and organisation and presentation of cultural and creative events. This is aimed at equipping children and youth with the skills to understand, appreciate, and create quality audiovisual productions in particular and arts in general.
While the Festival Press is aimed at uplifting the standards of creative and cultural journalism in eastern Africa, the Production Workshop empowers children and youth to make at least five quality, low-budget, moving images per year.
Programme Presentation, as the title suggest, empowers children and youth to organise and present events and programmes. Such children are usually in charge of the programme during the six days of the festival.
The Film Jury, on the other hand, seeks to inculcate in participants skills with which to critically appreciate and appraise creativity in general and film in particular. The jury members watch and award films in competition. The official Lola Kenya Screen Jury consists only of children and youth.
Out of the recognition that unless adults are sensitised into creating for and with children, the aim of putting children and youth on the public agenda could become a cropper, Lola Kenya Screen 2008 also worked with practising filmmakers in the production of documentaries for children and youth.
The 5th Lola Kenya Screen is scheduled for August 9–14, 2010 while the 4th edition ran in Nairobi, Kenya, August 10–15, 2009.
The film Maasai: The Rain Warriors a cinematic epic was shot entirely in Kenya but cast a number of local Maasai warriors who spoke Maa dialogue in the arthouse film. The films relates the story of a group of young Maasai warriors, Lomotoon and Merono sent on a mission to travel through the entirety of Kenya on foot, hunting a mythical lion
responsible for bringing about a major drought, and by doing so bringing back the rain. The film brought the rural Kenyan landscape to the silver screen and innovatively incorporated traditional Maasai song with a symphony orchestra. It was developed in partnership with the Maasai community, and actual tradition and legends were used as a basis for the story and used tribesmen from the Loita Hills area with no former acting experience.
The film Togetherness Supreme was shot in 2009 - 2010 entirely in collaboration with the youth of Kibera. It is a story based on the events of the 2007 disputed Presidential election in Kenya. It is the story of Kamau, an artist, who thirsts for change. He uses his art to bring about change, but is soon caught up in the events leading to the post election violence of 2007/8.
The 1985 film, Out of Africa starring Meryl Streep
and Robert Redford
was shot in Kenya and revealed Kenya’s colonial history in romantic drama film. It retold the story of Danish author’s Karen Blixen
’s love affair with Kenya and Hunter Denys Finch Hatton in particular. In 1999 the Canadian produced film was shot in Kenya, To Walk with Lions
.
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
. Although a very small industry in western comparison, Kenya has produced or been a location for film since the early 1950s when Men Against the Sun was filmed in 1952. Although, in Hollywood, jungle epics that were set in the country were shot in Hollywood as early as the 1940s.
Kenyan cinema
Rather than featured films with fictional content, Kenya has mostly produced documentary filmDocumentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
s often relating the conditions of the people and poverty in the main cities of Kenya. Since 2000 feature films on DV technology production have increased in the country. They include Dangerous Affair, Project Daddy and Money & the Cross by Njeri Karago, Babu's Babies by Christine Bala, Naliaka is going by Albert Wandago, The price of a Daughter and Behind closed doors by Jane Murago-Munene, The Green Card by Brutus Sirucha, Malooned by Bob Nyanja, All Girls Together by Cajetan Boy, Help by Robert Bresson and From a Whisper
From a Whisper
From a Whisper is a Kenyan drama film written and directed by African Movie Academy Award winner Wanuri Kahiu. The film received 12 nominations and won 5 awards at the African Movie Academy Awards in 2009, including Best Picture, Best Original Soundtrack, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and...
by Wanuri Kahiu
Wanuri Kahiu
Wanuri Kahiu is a Kenyan film director. She has received several awards and nominations for the films which she directed, including the awards for Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Picture at the African Movie Academy Awards in 2009.-Career:...
. Numerous short fictions are also on the increase such as Ras Star by Wanuri Kahiu, Subira by Kenya-based Indian film director Ravneet Sippy Chadha, Life in D Major by Angelo Kinyua, and Extracts of Me by William Owusu.
Other low-budget independent filmmakers using digital technology to shoot their films and sell them locally on DVD and VCD format have spawned the Riverwood Industry. Though it originally takes it name from River-road, the busy street where music tapes and electronics are sold, Riverwood is fast capturing the attention of the mainstream TV stations and pan-African broadcasters. Mburu Kimani's The Race earned an award at the inaugural Kalasha Awards (Kenya's TV and Film Awards) for Best Riverwood Film. Other films in this genre include Simiyu Barasa's Toto Millionaire (2007), and numerous other vernacular films like Kihenjo and Machangi
Films such as 2006's I Want to Be a Pilot
I Want to Be a Pilot
I Want to Be a Pilot, is a 2006 award winning Kenyan - Mexican short film documentary written and directed by Diego Quemada-Diez. The film won international seven awards including the Audience Award at the Los Angeles Film Festival...
relates an emotional tale of a young boy living in poverty in Nairobi who has dreams and aspirations of becoming an airline pilot and being set free from his life of hardship.
Film such as 2010's Togetherness Supreme a fictional feature flm by Nathan Collett
Nathan Collett
-Overview:Collett's work focuses on those on the margins of society as well as on environmental issues. He has filmed across the world, including location footage in Somalia and South America. He works both in fictional films and on documentaries, with a specific focus on Kibera in Kenya, Africa's...
have received national and international attention for revealing some of issues affecting Kenyan society. Togetherness Supreme tells the story of Kamau, an artist, who uses his talent to promote change in Kibera
Kibera
Kibera is a division of Nairobi Area, Kenya, and neighbourhood of the city of Nairobi, located from the city centre. Kibera is the largest slum in Nairobi, and the second largest urban slum in Africa...
. Togetherness Supreme tells a story of love, conflict, and ultimately, of reconciliation.
Kibera Kid
Kibera Kid
Kibera Kid is an award winning short film set in the Kibera slums in Nairobi, Kenya. It was written, directed and co-produced by Nathan Collett in collaboration with the locals of Kibera....
directed by Kenya-based director Nathan Collett
Nathan Collett
-Overview:Collett's work focuses on those on the margins of society as well as on environmental issues. He has filmed across the world, including location footage in Somalia and South America. He works both in fictional films and on documentaries, with a specific focus on Kibera in Kenya, Africa's...
is a short twelve minute film which covers themes of crime and poverty in the slums of Kibera
Kibera
Kibera is a division of Nairobi Area, Kenya, and neighbourhood of the city of Nairobi, located from the city centre. Kibera is the largest slum in Nairobi, and the second largest urban slum in Africa...
, Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
and also morality as the young protagonist must make a choice between living with a gang of thieves or living a life free of crime. The story is fictional but the circumstances and reality depicted are not. The film received seven international awards and received attention at various film festivals worldwide including the Berlin Film Festival and it was accoladed with a Student EMMY in Hollywood. It has been profiled by BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
, Al Jazeera English and many others.
Other than this directors such as Collett have shot other short films such as The Oath, a 2005 historical short set in the 1950s during the Mau Mau uprising
Mau Mau Uprising
The Mau Mau Uprising was a military conflict that took place in Kenya between 1952 and 1960...
under the British colonialism in Kenya. It portrays the struggle between two brothers on opposite sides of the conflict. Many of the actors used in the film were descents of Mau Mau fighters.
Whilst the number of films shot in the country has increased in recent years, the country lacks the financial resources and investment needed to produce larger scale feature films and employ professional actors. It is far behind other African film producers such as South Africa
Cinema of South Africa
The cinema of South Africa refers to the films and film industry of the nation of South Africa.-List of South African films:* Sarie Marais * Die kaskenades van Dr...
and Egypt
Cinema of Egypt
The cinema of Egypt refers to the flourishing Egyptian Arabic-language film industry based in Cairo, the capital of Egypt. Since 1976, Cairo has held the annual Cairo International Film Festival, which has been accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations. There is also...
who have been producing feature films since the early twentieth century.
The Kenyan government has made a conscious effort to develop Kenyan cinema as an industry, and in 2005 the government helped establish the Kenya Film Commission
Kenya Film Commission
The Kenya Film Commission was established by the Kenyan government in 2005. However only coming into full function in mid-2006.The Kenya Film Commission was formed with the aim of promoting the Kenyan film industry locally as well as internationally....
(KFC) which came into operation in mid-2006.
The Kenya Film Commission aims to promote the industry not only within the country but to raise international awareness and interest from potential investors. The commission falls under the Ministry of Information and Communication that is headed by Samuel Poghisio
Samuel Poghisio
Samuel Losuron Poghisio is a Kenyan politician. He belongs to the Orange Democratic Movement-Kenya and was elected to represent the Kacheliba Constituency in the National Assembly of Kenya since the Kenyan parliamentary election, 2007....
. It supports the Kenyan film industry by providing facilities for screenings and filming and organising various workshops to educate local film-makers seeking to enter film production. It is also responsible for advising on licensing and immigration; as well as facilitate the filming process for film makers. The Commission is also establishing a database that will list film directors, producers, agents, local talent, stakeholders and service providers to raise the profile of the Kenyan film industry.
In Nairobi the Hot Sun Foundation
Hot Sun Foundation
Hot Sun Foundation is a project of Hot Sun Films. The Hot Sun Foundation is a non-profit organization that works in Nairobi, Kenya and with the young people of the Urban Slums of Africa to help train and expose their talents and potential on the world stage...
was established to help train and expose the talents of young people living in the areas of poverty and educate them in filmmaking, acting, script writing, camerawork. The foundation was responsible for producing films such as Kibera Kid.
Festivals
The annual Lola Kenya ScreenLola Kenya Children's Screen
Lola Kenya Screen is an audio-visual media platform for children and youth in eastern Africa....
(also known as Lola Kenya Children's Screen) film festival was established by creative and cultural entrepreneur, arts and culture journalist and creative writer Ogova Ondego in October 2005. Deriving its name from a Bantu language word meaning watch or see films in Kenya, the first edition of the festival was held in Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
between August 7 and August 12, 2006. The film festival which is also a production workshop and audiovisual media market, focuses on films by, for and with children and youth where children are given the opportunity to participate in the film selection, programme presentation, film jury, and in the making of short films. Following the first event in 2006, Films by Children for Children, the first nine-short animation made won the Grand Prize at the 5th World Summit on Media for Children/1st Kids for Kids Africa festival, and went on to be shown in countries such as Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, and Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
and other African countries such as South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
, Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
, Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
, Congo-Kinshasa and Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
.
The second production, a three-film and three-song compilation titled African Folk Tales Animated, has been shown in all the continents including Oceania and has picked three awards—Most Creative Project, Special Jury Prize, Africa Grand Prize—in Africa and Europe. The third production, Africa-i-Motion, was made in 2008 and is currently on the children and youth film circuit.
The festival gives aspiring children the opportunity to collaborate with international partners and to also educate them in film production, screenplay writing, cinematography
Cinematography
Cinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography...
, and in the art department and sound production.
Eastern Africa’s premier audiovisual media platform for children and youth, Lola Kenya Screen has between August 2006 and August 2008 showcased more than 1200 films from 71 nations representing all the six continents in various genres, formats and lengths. Additionally, Lola Kenya Screen has helped add 31 child filmmakers, 14 journalists, 13 film judges, 7 MCs, 15 producers of television drama for children and youth and 6 producers of documentary films for children and youth to eastern Africa’s creative and cultural spectrum.
The 3rd Lola Kenya Screen (August 11–16, 2008), attracted participation from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe, with all participants coming in to watch the wide variety of films from 56 nations and to be equipped with skills for making films, appreciating and judging audiovisual media production, presenting programmes and filing daily reports on the festival.
Lola Kenya Screen was conceived as a movement that uses appropriate and available technologies to deliver audiovisual media content that complements, enhances, entertains and promotes learning among children and youth in the promotion of literacy, gender equity, independent thought, human rights, environmental responsibility and global health.
Through her programmes, Lola Kenya Screen explores, identifies and nurtures creative talent among children and youth in areas such as journalism, film-making, arts appraisal and appreciation, and organisation and presentation of cultural and creative events. This is aimed at equipping children and youth with the skills to understand, appreciate, and create quality audiovisual productions in particular and arts in general.
While the Festival Press is aimed at uplifting the standards of creative and cultural journalism in eastern Africa, the Production Workshop empowers children and youth to make at least five quality, low-budget, moving images per year.
Programme Presentation, as the title suggest, empowers children and youth to organise and present events and programmes. Such children are usually in charge of the programme during the six days of the festival.
The Film Jury, on the other hand, seeks to inculcate in participants skills with which to critically appreciate and appraise creativity in general and film in particular. The jury members watch and award films in competition. The official Lola Kenya Screen Jury consists only of children and youth.
Out of the recognition that unless adults are sensitised into creating for and with children, the aim of putting children and youth on the public agenda could become a cropper, Lola Kenya Screen 2008 also worked with practising filmmakers in the production of documentaries for children and youth.
The 5th Lola Kenya Screen is scheduled for August 9–14, 2010 while the 4th edition ran in Nairobi, Kenya, August 10–15, 2009.
Films shot in Kenya
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
responsible for bringing about a major drought, and by doing so bringing back the rain. The film brought the rural Kenyan landscape to the silver screen and innovatively incorporated traditional Maasai song with a symphony orchestra. It was developed in partnership with the Maasai community, and actual tradition and legends were used as a basis for the story and used tribesmen from the Loita Hills area with no former acting experience.
The film Togetherness Supreme was shot in 2009 - 2010 entirely in collaboration with the youth of Kibera. It is a story based on the events of the 2007 disputed Presidential election in Kenya. It is the story of Kamau, an artist, who thirsts for change. He uses his art to bring about change, but is soon caught up in the events leading to the post election violence of 2007/8.
The 1985 film, Out of Africa starring Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep
Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress who has worked in theatre, television and film.Streep made her professional stage debut in 1971's The Playboy of Seville, before her screen debut in the television movie The Deadliest Season in 1977. In that same year, she made her film debut with...
and Robert Redford
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
was shot in Kenya and revealed Kenya’s colonial history in romantic drama film. It retold the story of Danish author’s Karen Blixen
Karen Blixen
Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke , , née Karen Christenze Dinesen, was a Danish author also known by her pen name Isak Dinesen. She also wrote under the pen names Osceola and Pierre Andrézel...
’s love affair with Kenya and Hunter Denys Finch Hatton in particular. In 1999 the Canadian produced film was shot in Kenya, To Walk with Lions
To Walk With Lions
To Walk with Lions is a 1999 film starring Richard Harris as George Adamson and John Michie as Tony Fitzjohn.Adamson spends the latter part of his life protecting the lions and other wildlife in the Kora National Reserve, Kenya...
.