Over the last decade Nairobi's River Road, which is famous for its music industry, has given birth to a film-making niche similar to Nigeria's Nollywood, writes Mwenda Micheni

There are flyers in all directions, hundreds of handbills, stickers, branded T-shirts and chanting salesmen. Copies of VCDs are hot off the duplicating machines and a line-up of the downtown film stars and movie distributors from the comers of the country who have been waiting for the last two months are here too.

This was the scene on Saturday July 27 when a film enthusiasts and film-makers congregated at a shopping mall to welcome a new Kenyan film Ken. Since the twist music era in the fifties and sixties, Nairobi's River road had become the country's music production headquarters. Famous bands that churned out music hits like Malaika were based here.
With the launch of Ken, a Gikuyu comedy shot through a unique collaboration between Riverwood producers (as the nascent River Road film producers are named) and two foreign producers, River Road is now asserting itself as the future of Kenya's film industry.

The comedy is a simple story of a man living a double life in an effort to impress a woman.Though a waiter, the man lives a life of a banker. Soon, his lifestyle leads him into debt and in the midst of all this the object of his desires becomes elusive. His attempt to get a winning card out of his trouble spot fuels the drama.

"I went back to my scripting skills, imported the structure but worked with the Riverwood template," said Charles Liburd, an American screen writer who worked with some Kenyan actors to script and produce Ken in the local style. Other foreigners in the project that was also funded by Kenya Film Commission are Leon Coetzer, a South African producer who has worked in the reality show Project Fame and Jessica Noon of Earthbox East Africa.

On the Riverwood style, Charles said: It has given me a new take on how a movie can evolve. It is very exciting.

Born in Guyana and educated in England, Charles has now moved into Riverwood intent on making 20 films in one year. Though he has vast experience in film making, he is learning a new techniques. Charles, who is a voting member of the European Film Academy, said that he is in love with the Riverwood model. But what is Riverwood?

While traditional film-making requires several days before the final cut, Riverwood producers have devised a shorter method that enables them to churn out tens of movies every year. This is in an industry that hardly released a movie every year only a decade ago.

In the beginning - sometimes in the late eighties - were theatre comedians staging their acts in bars and restaurants. Their success on stage inspired a business idea that gave birth to Riverwood. These stage actors started recording the acts on radio cassettes and distributing them through already established music networks.

In 2000, two vermicular comedians Machangi and Kihenjo took the recordings a notch higher. They made video tapes of all the skits they were singing in bars. "The technology had become more affordable and it was clear that Kenyans were yearning to watch their own stories," recalls Mburu Kimani who has been working in Riverwood for the last eight years.

At the time VHS cameras (Hi-8) were being sold for about Sh30,OOO.

"The quality of production from VHS cameras was not as good. They were only okay for home videos," recal1s Mburu. That was the beginning of Riverwood. But there was still a problem as VCR players were still beyond the ordinary Kenyan's budget at they were going for around Sh8,OOO.

Then came digital technology, which allowed the production process to proceed affordably. Armed with only a camcorder, one could be in business.

Natural lighting worked, distribution was through the music establishment, and marketing was still not as expensive because competition was not as stiff as it is today. VCD players only cost Sh3, 000 making then more accessible to more homes.

As the technological revolution was unfold¬ing, 'IV stations were still reluctant to screen local movies and when they did, the films were produced in-house. This left film-makers idle; only relying on donor funded productions which were far apart.

Third force

But a new breed of semi-professional filmmakers went into Riverwood to develop what Kihenjo and Machangi had started. Among them were John Karanja, a film lecturer, Mburu Kimani, Gadson Waweru, a cameraman at the department of film services, and Gatonye Mbugua. This was before the Third Force, another group of professional film-makers joined forces in Riverwood.

When Njeri Karago, a Kenyan producer who had worked in the US or years returned to the country and-shot her independent Dangerous Affairs (home video), she proved that it was possible to produce movies without donor funding. This was another milestone.

From the other professional film-makers who broke ranks with the uptown donor reliant pro¬ducers, Riverwood has churned out Kibaara Kaugi's Enough is Enough, TheRace, PwaguHupata Pwaguza, Dawa Ya Deni. Simiyu Barasa and Robby Bresson joined the fray with Toto Millionaire and Help respectively.

Besides distributing the films locally, Riverwood has caught the attention of many broadcasters. So far, about five movies - Toto Millionaire, Help, Enough is Enough, Dawa Ya Deni and The Race - are screening on M-net's Africa Magic channel.

Citizen TV, a local channel with a penchant for local content is also screening movies shot in the Riverwood style by local producers. Joining the Citizen list soon is Waridi, a Kiswahili soap shot in Riverwood.

Professionals such as lawyers and IT specialists are also moving downtown to serve the nascent industry in anticipation for bigger things to come.

"I believe it holds a huge opportunity for us, being one of the larger video production houses in Kenya," said Rahim Kara of Elite Digital Soutions "I would like to believe it is an untapped opportunity right now and yes, we are ready to market our services there:'

It remains to be seen whether Riverwood will evolve into Kenya's cultural battering ram as has been the case in India and the US.