Factors Limiting the Growth of Film Industry in Kenya
1.0 Background information
Film industry in Kenya has a significant influence on the growth of economy. The film industry is expected to grown tremendously over the coming years. The slow growth of film industry in Kenya can be greatly attributed to the advancement of technology. In order for the indigenous film industry in Kenya to produce quality films worthy of a global audience, there are a number of educational, technological, and commercial concerns that need to be address. Such as Lack of film education, maintaining an indigenous Kenyan voice, telling a story creatively and effectively. Organization of above-the-line and below-the-line talent. Finding funding financial backers. Technology, finding an audience .This paper is going to look at the factors limiting the growth of film industry in Kenya..
A Brief History of Film in Kenya Film in Kenya, until recently, has been marked by external film industries using Kenya as a location to tell their own stories. According to the Kenya Film Commission’s website (2012), the first Hollywood productions in Kenya came in the 1930s, African Holiday, Stanley and
Livingstone, and Trader Horn among them. Memorable adventure films like The Snows of
Kilimanjaro, King Solomon’s Mines, and Mogambo reached wider audiences in the 1950s and
Showcased Hollywood stars on wild adventures in the rugged Kenyan terrain. In 1981, the BBC
Produced a widely acclaimed 7-part television miniseries based on the life of Elspeth Huxley, and her white settler memoir, The Flame Trees of Thika. But 1985’s Out of Africa, the Meryl Streep and Robert Redford expatriate drama based on the life of Danish citizen, Karen Blixen, was a turning point for films made in Kenya. While not the first departure from the adventure-safari film so commonly made in Kenya, Out of Africa brought worldwide attention to Kenya by winning Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Out of Africa showed that Kenya could also be a beautiful setting for dramatic films.
Film industry in Kenya has a significant influence on the growth of economy. The film industry is expected to grown tremendously over the coming years. The slow growth of film industry in Kenya can be greatly attributed to the advancement of technology. In order for the indigenous film industry in Kenya to produce quality films worthy of a global audience, there are a number of educational, technological, and commercial concerns that need to be address. Such as Lack of film education, maintaining an indigenous Kenyan voice, telling a story creatively and effectively. Organization of above-the-line and below-the-line talent. Finding funding financial backers. Technology, finding an audience .This paper is going to look at the factors limiting the growth of film industry in Kenya..
A Brief History of Film in Kenya Film in Kenya, until recently, has been marked by external film industries using Kenya as a location to tell their own stories. According to the Kenya Film Commission’s website (2012), the first Hollywood productions in Kenya came in the 1930s, African Holiday, Stanley and
Livingstone, and Trader Horn among them. Memorable adventure films like The Snows of
Kilimanjaro, King Solomon’s Mines, and Mogambo reached wider audiences in the 1950s and
Showcased Hollywood stars on wild adventures in the rugged Kenyan terrain. In 1981, the BBC
Produced a widely acclaimed 7-part television miniseries based on the life of Elspeth Huxley, and her white settler memoir, The Flame Trees of Thika. But 1985’s Out of Africa, the Meryl Streep and Robert Redford expatriate drama based on the life of Danish citizen, Karen Blixen, was a turning point for films made in Kenya. While not the first departure from the adventure-safari film so commonly made in Kenya, Out of Africa brought worldwide attention to Kenya by winning Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Out of Africa showed that Kenya could also be a beautiful setting for dramatic films.