What makes a good film? For 25-year-old Kenyan film director Hanigun Kwenya, it’s a good film script. And according to him, Africa’s creative film and TV industry is on a steady upward trajectory because of it.
If given the change to create her own TV show, 24-year-old Kenyan writer Fridah Naliaka Simiyu would focus on creating a Drama-themed show spotlighting cultural and social issues, with the intention of creating film and TV that is realistic and relatable to African audiences.
“I would love to entertain my audience with what is familiar to them,” says Simiyu, who hopes that being a part of the MultiChoice Talent Factory Academy’s Class of 2019 will spark her creativity and expose me to different styles of visual storytelling.
Faith ‘Liz’ Elizabeth is a 25-year-old public relations officer whose dream career is in film production. Born in Nairobi, Kenya, what fires her up about Africa’s creative industry is the amount of growth that African millennials have shown in the creative film and TV industry, and continue to thrive.
“I am impressed by how far we have come as Africans plus we keep getting better with each day. Millennial are coming up with content of low budget and putting it out there as they make a name for themselves. We have embraced the online platform,” says Elizabeth.
If there’s anything that 25-year-old Ugandan graphic designer and video editor Daisy Masembe could add to Africa’s creative film and TV industry, it would be powerful and reliable stories.
“Africa has very beautiful scenery [that is] still untapped that would make for great movie sets and stories. With the dawn of opportunities like the MultiChoice Talent Factory (MTF), I believe that Africans are starting to wake up to possibility of a huge filmmaking industry in this continent, and that will, in turn, mean more African stories being told,” says Masembe.
Christine Wanjiku is a 23-year-old Kenyan filmmaker based in Nairobi, with the dream of becoming one of the best film editors in Africa, alongside owning her own film production company.