Thread: Kenya: Changing Riverwood

Americans have Hollywood, Indians Bollywood, Nigerians Nollywood and Kenyans Riverwood. Riverwood has become synonymous with film production in Kenya, thanks to its constant supply of short films, mainly musicals and comedies.

This industry, which deals mainly with drama in local languages - mostly Kikuyu and Dholuo - is increasingly attracting attention and has become an outlet for many upcoming comedians, who would be frowned at by the mainstream media.Riverwood is derived from River Road, where most of the films are made. As for "wood," you know where.

The Riverwood explosion comes as a rude awakening to local formal filmmakers, who appear to have ignored the potential in the likes of Machang'i, Kihenjo and Githingithia - now household names.

Many of the local formal and invariably donor-funded movie makers, have conceded that Riverwood is the way to go for the local film industry and want to inject more professionalism into it. We are talking of lighting, shooting, editing and so on.

The curiously named Al Is On production and another company, Vivid Features, think that by offering "better" productions they can add some shine on Riverhood footage and charge the same for their products as Riverwood's.

"They are doing a good job but the quality of their work needs to improve and that is why we decided to get involved and shoot videos that appeal to the masses but with better quality," says Al Is On production boss, Alison Ngibuini.

Ngibuini, Vivid Features, freelance cast director and actor Lenny Juma, script writer Mbugua Keinama and director Pete Murimi may have the right intentions but can they, for example outsell Riverwood into going Kiswahili or English in order to reach the bigger market?

"No, we cannot change the trend. What we are doing is merely our own productions the Riverwood style, which is short films, and then get them sold and distributed in River Road at the same price as theirs. You can say we will be providing competition, which will in turn, spur them into improving their productions in the long run. This way Kenyans will have quality and professional entertainment," says Alison.

The group plans to do eight short films by the end of the year. They have just released their English debut film, Blessed Are They, which was shot in six days. Blessed is less and than 90 minutes long and soon or later the sales figures will tell us what the market wants.

"It is about a man, his wife and the house girl. This is a relevant script because you will find the mixture in Muthaiga and Korogocho," says Alison.
She is confident that their movies will cut across the age and financial divide as they experiment with different languages.

Borrowing a leaf from Nollywood, Alison and Co's films will not be preachy even as they deal with day-to-day life. "Language will be considered when looking at the kind of production we want because some stories are better told in vernacular or else they will lose their meaning. English has to be there because you are doing films for the masses," says Alison.

A decade ago, there was nothing to write about the amateurish Nollywood. Today, Nigerian films earn foreign exchange for the country with statistics showing an annual turnover of over 15,000 films.

Nollywood films come in English, Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa and dwell mostly on witchcraft, betrayal, infidelity and revenge. Many have religious and moral overtones with good and evil battling it out with each other.

The success of the industry has naturally called for professionalism with bodies like the Film Makers Association, National Copyright Commission, National Film and Video Censors Board playing a crucial regulatory role.

The Nigerian film industry recently opened the Nigerian Film Market in Surulere, Lagos State, where un-pirated films can be bought directly from the producers at discounted prices.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200606230135.html