Wanjiru Kairu has been in the film and television industry as a writer and director for 15 years, which translates to having worked on over 100 local films, television and audio shows.
Making a living through conjuring up and telling stories has been a fulfilling journey which has also seen her get international recognition.
Her first experience in front of the camera as an extra, in a music video for HART the Band, composed by Pete Odera, Sali Oyugi, Esther Muindi and Ted Josiah was in 1994 for the song Show You Love.
“Later, my older sister, Wambui Kairo, who had joined the industry would bring me on to various sets where she had worked and during the shoot for two films Dangerous Affair and Project Daddy that I found myself curious and interested in what they were doing,” she recalls.
But it wasn’t until she worked as a junior copywriter in advertising that she got the urge to make her own stories and she decided to give it a shot.
“I’m proud of each project I've made because each project taught me something invaluable; what to do, what not to do, how to negotiate for more, or raise funds,” she says.
“Stories are important: Think about how you engage and bond with your friends or how humans have a deep innate need for stories and I’d say a therapeutic need. We need stories that entertain us, stories that reveal to us different perspectives from which we ultimately learn, change our attitudes and grow,” she adds.
Some of Wanjiru's short films Include, New Year’s Eve , Must be a God Fearing Christian Woman and Weakness which received great reviews and were nominated in the Best Short Film category at the Africa Movie Academy Awards, Durban International Film Festival, the Images that Matter film Festival, Amakula Kampala International Film Festival, ION Film Festival and the Kalasha Awards.
Wanjiru says, as a scriptwriter who is working independently, it involves reading a ton of screenplays, writing as much as you can, getting rejection notes, and spending countless hours looking at a blinking cursor as you think of your next story idea.
“It involves evoking your muse, plotting and developing new narratives, taking workshops and classes to improve your craft, networking, watching films, pitching and in the end, your work amounts to a portfolio that shows off your skills and gets you more work,” she says.
According to Wanjiru, directing is physically, mentally and emotionally more demanding.
“Here you’re a creative as well as a manager. You have to read and make edits to the script, design and block actors, and have numerous meetings with department heads,” says Wanjiru.
She adds that one needs to have stamina in order to lead a team of crew and cast members to ensure your vision for a television show, commercial, documentary or film comes to life.
Wanjiru notes that an artist has got to have something to say about the world. The “what” are you trying to communicate, “Why” are you drawn to telling this story “why now” and lastly “how” are you going to say it in a way that hasn’t been said or shown before?
One also needs to have a great understanding of the story. That means you have to comprehend the story structure and be highly imaginative.
“As a director, there’s a whole lot more you’ve got to do in addition to all that. You’ve got to negotiate for what you want to achieve and have a handle on the tools you’re working with.”
“You must also build, work and grow with a community of filmmakers. These people come in handy as they may recommend you on your next project,” she adds.
She points out that to become successful, one has to do the work, repeatedly as it is an industry where the quality of the work outdoes any qualifications.
“You also need to have a bulldog resolve to see your goals through, one at a time,” she adds.
“The last film I shot was a documentary featuring young Eco activists advocating for a better world. It was shot in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria, Brazil, the United States and Indonesia, during the pandemic and it really stretched my abilities. I grew as a better communicator, negotiated budgets for crews, delivered on time, and slept for about 4 hours to produce ‘my best’ work so far,” she adds.
She is also a Commonwealth Writers grantee and locally she has won a Kalasha award, and her films have been nominated for the Africa Movie Academy Award -AMAA’s, ION Film Festival among others.
