Discoveries from Kenya World Cinema

In the remote Turkana region of Kenya, 13-year-old Nawi's aspirations of higher education are shattered when her father plans to marry her off to a stranger to ensure the family a substantial amount of livestock.

The true story of an 84 year-old Kenyan villager and ex Mau Mau freedom fighter who fights for his right to go to school for the first time to get the education he could never afford.

As a Nairobi journalist probes a land battle entangling the local government and a powerful multinational corporation, covered wounds are revealed and family secrets are exposed.

Journeying beyond the global headlines around 'Sudan,' the last male northern white rhino in existence, and explore the painful emptiness of extinction through the eyes of Sudan's three primary caregivers. Teetering on borrowed time and with his health in decline, Sudan's looming death and the uncertainty of employment that it will bring hangs over the heads of our three dynamic characters. Their only hope to save the species that they love - and perhaps their livelihood - rests fully in the success of a last resort IVF experiment.

Four down-on-their-luck friends in Nairobi attempt an absurd and chaotic heist on a bank truck, but their lack of experience and endless blunders turn the high-stakes operation into a hilarious disaster that puts their friendship to the ultimate test.

On a dusty soccer pitch in Malindi, Kenya young Kalu is an aggressive striker of the “Malindi Sharks,” who dreams of playing professional soccer. He’s a selfish player and a clear stand out on his team and knows he’s destined for glory. Then one day his life dramatically changes. Kalu gets an offer to play soccer on a second tier team in South Africa on the same day his father is killed in an accident and he unknowingly is exposed to the HIV virus. He makes the decision to go play soccer and send part of his salary back to home to his mother and sister.

“My family was shocked when they found out that I'm driving,” says Eva, a Kenyan woman, as she sits behind the wheel of a truck, heavily pregnant. She botched up her school years and was the only one in her family not to graduate. Pretty foolish, she admits in hindsight, but now she is glad to have chosen a profession she can be proud of. She sees more of the world than her brothers and sisters do.

The film depicts a friendship between an Irish journalist in Kenya and a Rwandan woman, who pair up to combat the AIDS crisis in the 1990s.

With his life in jeopardy and jail almost a certainty, one question remains, how could a farm boy bring down the global financial system and how far is the international world order willing to go to silence his story?

For a decade Kenya has been targeted by terrorist attacks of the Al-Shabaab. An atmosphere of anxiety and mistrust between Muslims and Christians is growing. Until in December 2015, Muslim bus passengers showed that solidarity can prevail.

When a mysterious train accident forces a man to change his plans, he is confronted with a series of choices. Each decision he makes leads to a different scenario, each one filmed by a different director with a different cast.

The chronicle of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin and his tyranic rule from 1971 to his overthrow in 1979.

Ni Sisi tells the story of a typical Kenyan village, a harmonious muddle of tribes, intermarriages and extended families, in the context of post-election violence. The characters explore issues of corruption, political bribery, racism and gossip. Friends who have lived and worked together all their lives are consumed by rumors and mistrust. However, horrific consequences are avoided when the community pulls together to avert further violence. The hopeful and empowering message of Ni Sisi is one of personal responsibility; that both individuals and communities have the power to control what happens to them and that racist attitudes and negative stereotypes of other tribes can be overcome. Ni Sisi enables the audience to discuss the 2008 post election violence and understand the futility of violence.

Echoes of Lamu tells the story of Alpha ODH, a painter from Nairobi, who travels to Ubunfiu Lamu art center to inspire local children through art. His goal is to help them “cut” through reality to imagine and build their own world through painting. Alpha becomes a guide and creative companion. While the children decorate symbolic Aknuloonk sculptures with local patterns and stories, Alpha paints his own AKNEYE sculpture, slowly shifting from urban imagery to the colorful spirit of Lamu. Scenes of the village, its people, and the children’s hopes reveal a place full of contrast daily life and dreams, city and island, past and future. Step by step, Alpha’s artwork becomes a mirror of the journey they’ve all shared.

Jo, a witty 9-year old terminally ill girl is taken back to her rural village to live out the rest of her short life. Her only comfort during these dull times are her dreams of being a superhero, which prove to be something her rebellious teenage sister Mwix, overprotective mother Kathryn and the entire village of Maweni think they can fulfill.

Bereft of earthly memories, a new arrival in the afterlife struggles to recover the past, in this poetic fantasy that offers a dark reflection on personal atonement in the shadow of Kenya’s violent past. Imagine waking up one day in a barren wasteland. Amnesia leaves you clueless as to your whereabouts, your identity, and how you arrived. A small group of strangers welcomes you to a nearby oasis resort, and they reveal to you the nature of this new reality. You are dead. And this is the afterlife. This is what happens to Kaleche (Nyokabi Gethaiga) in the enigmatic opening sequence of Kati Kati, writer-director Mbithi Masya's poetic first feature film.

SOMETHING NECESSARY is an intimate moment in the lives of Anne and Joseph. A woman struggling to rebuild her life after the civil unrest that swept Kenya after the 2007 elections claiming the life of her husband, the health of her son and leaving her home on an isolated farm in the Kenyan countryside in ruins, she now has nothing but her resolve to rebuild her life left. A young man, troubled gang member who participated in the countrywide violence is drawn to Anne and her farm seemingly in search of redemption. Both, Joseph and Anne need something that only the other can give to allow them to shed the painful memories of their past and move on.

The film paints the portrait of a poor young girl who has come from the countryside to earn her living as a maid. Her mistress mistreats her and her life isn’t easy. While her mistress is away, she searches the house. But one day, she is caught by surprise in her mistress’s bedroom…

What does beauty look like? In this award-winning short, Kenyan filmmaker Ng’endo Mukii combines animation, performance, and experimental techniques to create a visually arresting and psychologically penetrating exploration of the insidious impact of Western beauty standards and media-created ideals on African women’s perceptions of themselves. From hair-straightening to skin-lightening, YELLOW FEVER unpacks the cultural and historical forces that have long made Black women uncomfortable, literally, in their own skin.

An unlicensed Private Investigator gets hired to find out who killed a doctor.

Mwas, a young aspiring actor from upcountry Kenya dreams of becoming an accomplished actor one day, and in pursuit of this, he makes his way to Nairobi, the city of opportunity. He quickly understands why Nairobi is nicknamed Nairrobery as he is bereaved of all his money and belongings and left alone in a city where he doesn’t know a soul. Luck or the lack of it brings Mwas face to face with the city’s criminals and forms a friendship with a small time crook who takes him in. He is quickly drawn into a world of crime as he struggles to pursue his dream of becoming an actor. Keeping the two worlds separate proves to be a challenge for Mwas as he steps into this unknown world called Nairobi.

Omondi lives in the biggest slum in East Africa. Everyday he sees airplanes fly over him. He dreams of becoming an airline pilot and flying far away.

A group of prisoners trapped in a crashed prison bus strive to stay alive when they realize there is a mysterious killer lurking in the shadows.

After Rhoda’s husband passed away, she was thrown off the land and endured seven tough years living in an outdoor market with her children. Many women in rural Kenya meet the same fate when deeply rooted patriarchal cultural traditions and discriminatory practices deny widows their rightful share.

Otis Janam, a lazy fisherman, wins a boat racing championship and the hand in marriage of the wealthiest man's daughter. Can a good woman save a fool from his destiny?

When his wife falls sick, a well-intended dad braves the fires and goes where no man has gone before - the hairmarket - to get his daughter's hair braided before school begins.

Lusala, adopted by an affluent Nairobi family a decade ago is imposed on to leave home and start on his own. Eager and willing at first, he makes the most of his life, until the demons from his past return, and he faces them on his own.

No Exit follows a young woman trapped in a seemingly ordinary corridor, only to repeatedly return to the same starting point. At first, she searches for a way out with logic and patience, testing doors and marking walls, but nothing leads forward. As time begins to loop and reality subtly shifts - objects move, sounds stretch, and familiar patterns distort - her attempts to escape become increasingly frantic. The corridor feels smaller, the air heavier, and silence grows suffocating. Without dialogue, the film relies on sound, atmosphere, and visual repetition to chart her unraveling. By the end, it's unclear whether the prison is physical, psychological, or both, leaving the audience to imagine the boundaries of her reality - and question if there was ever an exit at all.

A documentary detailing an indiscriminate terrorist attack that left 71 dead in Kenya.

Sincerely Daisy is a 2020 Kenyan coming-of-age romantic comedy film produced and directed by popular actor Nick Mutuma. The film stars Ella Maina, Brian Abejah, Sam Psenjen and Mbeki Mwalimu in the lead roles. The film was released in Netflix on 9 October 2020 and became the first ever Kenyan feature film to be released via Netflix.

A local company owned by a shrewd millionaire, Thabiti, offers young people the opportunity to find work abroad. Mvera, a self-centred woman who is on a mission to search for her lost mother, and also one of the applicants, soon discovers they are all trapped in an organ trafficking ring. She is forced on a hero’s journey as she tries to make it back home to warn the villagers about Thabiti.

After a whirlwind online romance, a lonely British woman (Charlotte) comes to Kenya to track down her fiancé, only to find everything is a lie. Things take a turn for the worse when all her belongings are stolen. However, she is helped by a humble boda boda driver (Jabari), who gives her a place to stay in his crowded home in Kaloleni. As the two work together to find her fiancé and Charlotte bonds with his busy family, Jabari and Charolotte start to fall in love. But they've both been burnt before, so what makes this time different?

Between the Rains is a coming-of-age story of Kolei, a shepherd boy whose name translates to “living amongst the goats.” Unfolding over the course of a prolonged drought, viewers are pressed deeper into Kolei’s inner conflict as he questions not only his own identity as a warrior — a path that was chosen for him —but also the erosion of the culture that has shaped every aspect of his life. For Kolei, becoming a warrior not only shapes masculinity and personal identity, but it is also the very foundation on which this community and society root their lives. It is a sacred, guiding pillar.

Agnes may not seem like someone with much to laugh about. For one thing, she has albinism - a lack of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes - and her appearance has provoked prejudice from family, friends and strangers since she was born. But despite all odds, Agnes refuses to lead a life of sorrow. This fascinating and inspiring documentary also shares the stories of seven other people's individual experiences of living their lives with albinism in Kenya, a predominantly black society. While each person's story is unique, they all have one thing in common: they know what it is like to stand out uncomfortably from the crowd.

Two intrepid Nairobi women decide to transform what used to be a whites-only library until 1958 into a vibrant cultural hub. Along the way, they must navigate local politics, raise millions for the rebuild, and confront the lingering ghosts of Kenya’s colonial past.

When fifteen year old Mercy faces the unimaginable, her courage and resilience come to the fore. What could have been the end of her story is only the start of a new journey.

The story of Pastor Lucy and her husband Duncan Ndegwa, who began feeding and sheltering children from the streets of Nairobi, Kenya in 1996.

Karisa’s city-life is interrupted when his Grandma back home is called a witch and receives a death threat. Returning to his rural village to investigate, he finds a frenzied mixture of consumerism and Christianity is turning hundreds of families against their elders, branding them as witches as a means to steal their ancestral land.

Boy Dallas lives in the slum of Kibera, the capital of Kenya, Nairobi. He is a radio host, "The Voice of Kibera." Dallas is a self-taught cameraman, and with a spare camera, he sets out to find out why the neighborhood, which has long been the target of aid, is still in such terrible trouble.

The stakes escalate in a longstanding conflict between Indigenous pastoralists and white landowners in Laikipia, Kenya, as unresolved historical injustices and the impact of climate change come to the forefront.

A documentary about people in Kenya who are imprisoned by the global flower industry. The dilemmas of the industry become painfully clear and a dark world of oppression, sexual abuse and terrible working conditions unfolds. There is only one conclusion possible: the smell of the imported rose is not sweet, but bitter.

For many years lions and hyenas have competed hard for meat. Both control each other, stealing and killing each other. But in this game, both survive and no one prevails.Their destinies are united. This is the story of the ancestral confrontation between the most iconic predators of Africa

When Kev, a super talented footballer's dream come crushing down, he is left with no choice but to join the criminal world. In the process of trying to win the battle, he loses the war.

Peter, his wife Nyathon, and his children endure his political imprisonment, a near assassination, asylum, and his many foiled attempts for a fair and free election in the world's youngest country. A child soldier from South Sudan turned Harvard graduate and democracy activist, Peter is forced to reconcile his commitment to his young country versus his young family, to nonviolent means versus whatever it takes, and a self-defined identity versus an inherited one as protector and leader of his people. We witness the family's personal and intergenerational costs but also their resilience as Peter makes choices which ultimately leads to his incarceration as a criminal in the US.

Forced to confront her deepest fears and past mistakes, a 21-year-old woman, crippled by grief, must grapple with the manifestations of her subconscious mind as they materialize into a haunting projection

Wanjugu Kimathi is the daughter of Dedan Kimathi, legendary leader of the Kenyan Land and Freedom Army, or Mau Mau. This resistance group fought the British colonial regime from 1952 to 1960 to stop it from confiscating land, a conflict known as the Mau Mau Rebellion. In 1957, the British authorities hanged Dedan for possession of firearms, and then dumped his body at an unknown location.

Subira, is a young, free-spirited girl from the rural areas of Kenya. She seems to have her whole life ahead of her, that is, until the death of her loving and encouraging father. Life hits her hard afterwards, with traditional submissive expectations preventing her from leading the life she desires.

The story of two brothers who travel to Nairobi to find work

A humorous satire about a Kenyan charlatan who claims to be a “miracle healer”.

VEVE follows the lives of multiple characters trying to find themselves in a world of political intrigue, revenge, love and longings for success complemented by the background of the thriving yet unregulated veve business. Amos, an ambitious politician, is running for another term as Maua MP whilst facing his opponent Wadu in the extension of his veve empire.

Harambee: The Weight of Division is a 2025 short documentary that revisits Kenya's 2007-2008 post-election crisis, a violent chapter triggered by disputed presidential results. Over 1,100 lives were lost, and more than 600,000 people were displaced in the chaos that followed. Through a carefully curated blend of archival footage and observational storytelling, the film avoids sensationalism and blame. Instead, it shines a sober light on the emotional toll of political unrest, how fractured trust, grief, and fear ripple through generations and communities. By focusing on the human stories behind the headlines, Harambee becomes more than a historical recount it's a reflective, urgent reminder of what is at stake when national unity is compromised. The film concludes not with answers, but with a call to confront painful truths, to heal, and to recommit to the ideals of democracy, peace, and patriotism.

Jay is a young man in his last year of campus . Raised in a strict Christian family, he is exposed to the betting world landing him in trouble with his family and ends up losing his property

Follow the dramatic stories of three Kenyan women: a laundress with memories of a past sin, a young student from Nairobi facing an abortion problem, and Atisana, a lady musician who lives a beautiful life even if she suffers in the streets.

A shy, young dreamer escapes the confines of his rural home to join a fearless girl on an adventure through the Kenyan wilderness.

A teacher newly released from prison renegotiates the confines of the physical world while forced to face his nightmare in the flesh.

Kim and his friends Dante and Ryan fight against corrupt officials and dangerous thugs to reclaim their land in Kenya. As they seek justice for Kim's father's murder, they must also confront their personal demons.

On board a commercial airplane, Ruwe, an African intellectual, sits next to a white man named Walter. In their conversation, which is utterly brutal, honest and to some racist, Walter blames the 'Intellectuals' as to why Africa is in such a deplorable state.

A 13-year-old aspiring journalist investigates his father’s mysterious murder within the boundaries of one of Kenya’s largest wildlife conservancies. As a ravaging drought encroaches, his quest to find the killer shifts as the collateral damage of a warming world is revealed.

After a traumatic miscarriage, a woman becomes convinced a ghost child is trapped in her new home’s closet, but the real horror may be what grief has hollowed out inside her

The “Voice of Kenya” is the radio that symbolizes the country’s independence. Which means that being a producer there is no small issue. To get a children’s chorus to rehearse in a church, to put together a programme with champagne, or to prepare a recording of a musical edition for Christmas, these are just some of his numerous tasks…