YOUNG KENYAN
CREATIVES GO ONLINE AND ON AIR
By
Margaretta wa Gacheru (posted 1st March 2018)
Peter Kawa
is best known to me for his leading roles in plays like ‘Eduta’ where he starred
in the title role, and most recently, in Hearts of Art’s ‘All I ever wanted’
where he was the Judge who had to make tough decisions affecting other people’s
lives.
I hadn’t
seen him co-starring as Yusuf in Biko
Nyongesa’s feature film ‘Get Some Money’ which premiered at the Garden City
IMAX a year ago. Nor did I know how fully he’d shifted his focus, as have so
many other Kenyan stage actors, from live theatre to film and TV.
But it’s not
just that he’s acting in other people’s film. Kawa is also making films of his
own, both shorts (like ‘Nazif’ and ‘Witness’) and features (like ‘Njamba’ and ‘My
First Story’). Ever since he started Spearhead Media Entertainment in 2016,
he’s been producing and directing his own films, including ‘Torture’ which was
nominated to win a Kalasha award for Best Local Language Film in 2017.
He’s also
been showcasing the stories of other young ambitious Kenyan creatives on ‘Sanaa
Talks’, the weekly KUTV talk show that he co-produces with Cecimercy Wanza
who’s a KU graduate from the Film and Theatre Arts Department as well as a TV
producer and director in her own right.
‘Sanaa
Talks’ premiered 22 November 2017 and the half-hour (26 minutes) program has
been on Facebook live every Wednesday night at 8:30pm ever since. Hosted in
Kenyatta University’s television studio and anchored by Gilbert Lukalia
(acclaimed film and stage star who also authored and directed ‘Edufa’ two years
back), ‘Sanaa Talks’ was screening its tenth episode this past Wednesday night.
“We featured
producers Martin Kigondu, of Prevail Arts Productions, and Lucy Mwangi who
produces ‘Aunty Boss’ and its spin-off show, ‘Varshita’,” Peter told BD
Weekender just hours before the program aired on Facebook on its Sanaa Talks
web page.
“The following
Wednesday will be the Finale episode of Sanaa Talks so we’ll be having music
producers like Jackie B, who produces gospel hits and Brian Oluoch, who
produced Sauti Sol’s ‘Live and Die in Africa’ album,” added Cecimercy who met
Peter on the set of ‘Get some money’ where she was assistant director.
“I call Ceci
my producer but actually we co-produce Sanaa Talks,” added Peter whose
background in Information Management is a perfect fit for his media work at
Spearhead.
“But I don’t
just co-produce and direct Sanaa Talks. I also market the show through YouTube
where every episode can be found, as well as on Instagram and of course, on Facebook,”
he adds.
Ceci chimes
in that there will be two more ‘mashup’ episodes after the finale which will
feature the most memorable moments of Gilbert’s interviews with everyone from
local filmmakers, screenwriters and spoken word poets to musicians,
cinematographers and actors, including the current chairman of the Kenya Actors
Guild, Chris Kamau.
“We want
people to understand how difficult to be in the arts in Kenya today,” says Ceci
who believes that if the public understood all the challenges and obstacles
that creatives face, they’d be far more supportive of them.
“We plan to
begin our second season in May. That’s when we hope to put the program on
live,” adds Ceci who admits the programs are currently pre-recorded to air
Wednesday nights. “But we get such great online feedback from our viewers that
it would be great if those on camera could answer viewers in real time.”
That may not
be possible from a logistical point of view. But both Kawa and Ceci would love
to see conversations at Sanaa Talks not be only between those in the studio but
also engage their viewers.
In the
meantime, Kawa draws a multitude of local eyeballs to his Instagram page, Sanaa
Post where he puts up slews of photos of what can easily be called Kenyan
celebrities. The snaps are mainly taken at high styled media events, featuring
the nouveau ‘who’s who’ of those who know where it’s ‘happening’.
Many of them
have already been interviewed by Gilbert Lukalia. Many more will most likely be
invited to chat during Sanaa Talks’ second season.
In the
meantime, the movement of local media activism is currently taking social media
channels by storm and the swell of activist artists is refreshing to watch.
Post a Comment