As part of a series of posts on African Filmmaking, Ukwelii and The Eumagine Factory will be looking at East African Film in the region both those that have been in circulation for a while, and some new content in the region.
Eumagine is doing some great things including the amazing concept for EumagineTV (I found out about them via Twitter) and whatever insight I can lend towards shining a bit of light on the East African Filmmaking industry, I’d be glad to.
In this first instalment of the series, we look at Paul Ekuru’s trailer for his short film The Dance for Wives – who you can fan on Facebook here. Paul Ekuru’s a good friend of mine and a director I respect. He came out of the Maisha Film Lab with this screenplay and got it to shootable and actually shot it. He attended the Maisha Film Lab at the Kenya International Film Festival (I was another one of the participants) and his screenplay was selected from 8 screenplays.
Shooting, he was respectful to all cast and crew and went well out of his way to make sure everyone and everything was well taken care of. A mark of character that will definitely see him succeed in this industry, I believe.
He’s since had the film screened at the Zanzibar International Film Festival and was nominated for two Kalasha Award for Best Short Film (That award went to Judy Kibinge for her short film The Killer Necklace) and for Best Leading Actress – Karen ‘Kaz’ Lucas.
The Poster for the Nairobi premiere which was at Alliance Francaise. And the Cast and Crew in attendance getting recognised for their efforts in putting the film together. From Right to Left: My apologies for not getting all the names during the event. (Sound Guy/Jack of all Trades, Actor (Melvin Alusa), Actress (Mumbi Kaigwa), Props and Costumes (Bernadette Otieno), Writer/Director (Paul Ekuru) and their Director of Photography)
And what you’ve been waiting for…The Trailer.
Any thoughts on the film? How about on Kenyan Film/African Film in General. I’d like to know.
Ukwelii 
The Dance for Wives is the Best Kenyan Film i have ever watched!
i saw this at the KIFF and enjoyed it. possibly more so as i was in a theatre filled with a young (mostly 20-something), reactionary audience. hats off to Paul Ekuru & his team.
my only concern is the editing of the content in the trailer – having seen the film first, i feel it gives way too much away.