The epic tale of Nairobi Half Life is finally on Netflix. And it’s about time, to be honest.
Widely touted as one of the best movies to come out of Kenya, its journey to an international yet locally available platform took, in my opinion, far too long. It took so long, in fact, that the main actor, Maina Olwenya, passed away earlier this year before he got a chance to see that happen, something that chafes at a sore spot for the recognition of Kenyan artistry above and beyond anything else, for me.
There have been other movies on Netflix by Kenyans, of course. It feels like a step in the right direction for sure: I remember when Netflix first came to Kenya, one of the only movies you could find on there was Veve, which had Lowry Odhiambo, Lizz Njagah and Emo Rugene in its titular roles, with Delvin Mudigi (Savara from Sauti Sol) making a surprisingly good cameo (do you remember that Viva Riva also came out at around that time, and it was showing in the cinemas?).
Now, there’s a wealth to choose from: Supa Modo, 40 Sticks, Disconnect, Uradi, Subira, Sincerely Daisy, among others, and taking its place as their ground-breaking forerunner, Nairobi Half Life.
The fact of the matter is, until now, many people had not even watched Nairobi Half Life. First, there’s the fact that it was technically a workshop movie – actors didn’t really get paid for it, and neither did the scriptwriters. Perhaps they didn’t expect it to become that big, and didn’t think twice about signing over the rights to such a special event – I know that as a young scriptwriter, I wasn’t thinking about that at all.
And so when it did become big, and started touring in international festivals, sure, there was buzz about it, but only in the circles that knew to make the buzz, so it seemed. There was a little support from local cinemas, but for the longest time, it has felt like the typical Kenyan didn’t really have access to the movie – even when they have access to it.
Perhaps the story will change now, now that we realise how important it is for the film industry and the creative sector to support each other.
We are often compared to other powerhouses on the continent, that have had more time and funding to perfect their movies and series – powerhouses like Nigeria and South Africa. But if you think about it, it isn’t even about the money. Nigeria has been making terrible looking movies since I was born (the first one I ever watched was a thriller I will never forget called Who Killed Nancy?).
Yet when M-Net and Showmax come calling, these are the first markets they come to, because they know that there is a market who actively consume screen productions, as well as specifically watch and support their own films if they are produced, at any level.
As more and more people become aware of the genius that is Nairobi Half Life, we also need to keep casting our eyes to what else is being made, and how else artists can be supported to grow ourselves; to be seen as and continue to be seen as a viable career, and to actually, finally be able to make a living out of it, while we are still living.
