Kitale is not the town that comes to mind when people talk about film festivals. It is better known for maize farms and agrovets than movie premieres and industry panels.
But Peter Bwire, better known as Pages, is steadily making people in the film industry pay attention to Kitale Film Week. The festival, which has run from February 22 to March 1 this year, was born out of frustration, curiosity and a refusal to give up on an industry that once seemed to offer him no future.
Pages was born in Busia County before his family moved to Kitale. As a child, he loved stories and imagined himself writing for newspapers one day.
His older siblings brought home set books, which he loved reading. There was no television at home, so his media world revolved around the newspapers his father brought back.
Peter Pages Bwire, the founder of Kitale Film Week.
Photo credit: Pool
He would cut out pictures of his favourite footballers and paste them into a scrapbook. At that time, his dream was to be a footballer.
It wasn’t until high school that theatre found him. “I met a group of people who wanted to do drama festivals,” he recalls. “They were rehearsing, laughing, having a good time. I joined just so I wouldn’t be bored.”
He had never acted before. Film wasn’t even something he thought about. But theatre slowly drew him in. His first big test was a solo verse performance. He memorised his lines for days. During rehearsals, he did well. On stage, it was different.
“I didn’t know what to do with my hands. I didn’t know where to look. I started sweating. People were waiting for the next line and it just wouldn’t come.”
He fumbled the performance, but that moment became a learning curve. By the time he left high school, he had participated in music and drama festivals for all four years, notably winning best performing artist in solo verse, soloist in dance, lead character in a play in Trans Nzoia East and West.
Drama became something like a parallel career while still in school. There were trips, trophies, certificates and the thrill of applause.
When choosing a university course, he had three conditions: it had to be film and theatre, it had to be in Nairobi, and it had to be government-sponsored. Hence, in 2012, he enrolled at Kenyatta University for a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre, Arts and Film Technology.
He enjoyed the classes. They felt manageable. But even as he studied, doubt crept in. “I loved the coursework, but I couldn’t see a future for myself in the industry,” he says.
“Films were being made, but they didn’t seem to go anywhere. We would rehearse theatre productions for months, perform at Phoenix Theatre, and barely get audiences. It didn’t look sustainable.”
By his second year, he began drifting away from the idea of working on set. Instead, he grew interested in the business side — festivals, distribution, and marketing. He focused on passing exams but mentally stepped back from dreams of becoming a filmmaker.
Peter Mudamba, the Kitale festival’s director for the 2026 and 2027 editions, Peter Pages Bwire, the founder of Kitale Film Week, and Timothy Owase, the Chief Executive Officer at the Kenya Film Commission.
Photo credit: Pool
In 2015, he worked as a set designer on Angles of My Face, which later won Best East African Short Film at the Zanzibar International Film Festival. They had recreated an internally displaced persons’ camp on campus. It was an important project, but it also exposed a harsh reality: production design was limited. When films were not shooting, there was no income.
“The cinematographers could shoot weddings or events when they were broke. For me, production design was only film sets. I kept asking myself, what else can I do?”
After graduating in 2015, he returned to marketing work. In 2016, he organised Festival of Dots, a Christian performing arts festival at PAC University. In 2017, he was selected for the Mandela Washington Fellowship in the United States.
There, he began building networks with filmmakers and festival organisers. Through those connections, the Hip Hop Film Festival came to Nairobi in 2018, hosted at KCA University. He and his team began exploring partnerships in Botswana and South Africa.
Peter Pages Bwire, the founder of Kitale Film Week.
Photo credit: Pool
That same year, he applied for the Chevening Scholarship, explaining his interest in the film business. He was awarded a place to study International Film Business at the University of Exeter and the London Film School.
The experience broadened his understanding of the global industry. Under Dr Angus Finney, a film business specialist who bridges creative filmmaking and commercial finance, Pages learnt about distribution, financing, rights and how different territories operate.
For the first time, he understood the entire value chain — where money flows, who controls it, and how films travel from one country to another.
Being in a class of 21 students from 19 countries sharpened his teamwork and pitching skills. He learnt how to package stories and attract funding.
“When I came back, I thought I knew everything,” he laughs. “Then I realised some knowledge was outdated, and some people on the ground knew more than I did. So for years, I adjusted what I had learnt to fit reality here.”
He pitched ambitious budgets to the Kenya Film Commission — sometimes nearly matching its entire allocation — and quickly learnt that theory and practice were two different worlds.
By 2021, although he did not want to be a producer, he still wanted to see projects come to life. Jobs in distribution were scarce.
He freelanced, volunteered and taught at USIU and Moi University to earn income. Then he was selected for the French-African Young Leaders Program in Paris.
Participants were asked to propose ideas that could transform their industries. Pages suggested creating a film lab, a space where filmmakers could develop and collaborate. His group chose a different project.
Still, the idea stuck with him.
He began refining it, speaking to industry players for feedback. The film lab evolved into something bigger: a festival that could house the lab within it. The original concept was to create a platform where Kenyan and Ugandan filmmakers could collaborate, given Kitale’s proximity to the border.
From May 2022, he began building Kitale Film Week. He wanted the community to own it. He pitched to hotel managers, business owners, students and community organisations. Venues offered space. Someone else offered projectors. Others volunteered to manage events. The French Embassy provided support.
Peter Pages Bwire the founder and director of Kitale Film Week Festival.
Photo credit: Courtesy
Not everyone came through. “Some people discussed proposals with me for six months and then disappeared. Others promised sponsorship and reduced it at the last minute.”
But the first edition went ahead in February 2023. It was free entry. The turnout was strong. Media personality Terry-Anne Chebet hosted the opening night. Pages’ own feature film, Zuena, starring Sharlene Wangare, was screened.
The festival’s design is deliberate. The first three days focus on Trans Nzoia creatives, so they do not feel overshadowed when bigger names arrive.
Each evening carries a theme targeting specific community groups. There are workshops, masterclasses and panels. Emerging filmmakers are given space, even if their technical quality is not perfect.
Many filmmakers, Pages says, simply want their films off hard drives and in front of audiences. But Kitale Film Week goes further, inviting distributors who might acquire films for platforms, airlines or cinemas.
Kitale remains an agricultural town — “you walk around and see 15 agrovets, and there’s a maize statue in town,” he jokes — but he insists culture lives there too.
Attendance fluctuates. Some nights draw only five people. The February heat and school fees season do not help. Yet opening and closing nights fill up.
Interestingly, industry interest has grown faster than audience numbers. Organisations like Docubox and the Kenya Film Commission now participate. Partnerships are expanding.
Peter Pages Bwire, founder and director of Kitale Film Week,
Photo credit: Pool
Through collaboration with Tunga Media Afrika, run by Cindy Makandi, the festival launched screenings in 10 primary and high schools, tapping into a captive audience. Students respond enthusiastically. This year, screenings extend to tertiary institutions. Tunga, now a distribution company, plans year-round film clubs.
“From my trips to the US and UK, I wrote down ideas I wanted to implement,” Pages says. “I cannot wait to be CEO of Kenya Film Commission to do them. Let me do them in Kitale first.”
Some ideas had to be modified to suit the town. But after years of dissatisfaction and uncertainty, Pages feels anchored. Over the past two years, the festival has given him clarity. He has travelled to Nigeria and Zimbabwe because of the film.
He is earning, building respect and creating something tangible. “My life now makes sense,” he says.
After three years of experimentation, Kitale Film Week has a structure — a mix of screenings, industry events and community engagement. In a town known for maize, a film culture is slowly taking root. And experts who once looked elsewhere are beginning to look toward Kitale.
