A documentary film project by the Media and Communication degree students at Egerton University will highlight Kenya’s indigenous customs and cultures.
The film’s director and head of audio-visual courses at the university Manoah Mukhwana says the film is sponsored by the university and will particularly focus on the plight of the girl child and women. The film will also be depicting traditional customs of various ethnic groups in marginalised regions of the country while enriching students with professional film production skills.
He added: “The aim of the project is to give practical journalistic experience in the field of film production for the students. The students will get exposed to journalistic conditions and skills outside the studio including; piloting, script writing, photography, on scene reporting, public relations, interviewing and directing.”
The different class groups, according to Mukhwana, have so far visited various parts of the country recording parts of the film. These include; Coast region (various sub-tribes of the Mijikenda people), Rift Valley (selected sub-tribes of the Kalenjin, Turkana and Maasai ethnic groups), Nyanza (Gusii, Luo and Kuria ethnic groups), Western (various sub-tribes of the Luhya ethnic group), Central (Kikuyu ethnic group), Eastern (Akamba and Meru ethnic groups) and North Eastern region.
Mukwana said issues being highlighted in the film include; wife inheritance, initiation rites, socio-economic issues, cleansing, gender roles and indigenous education among others. The film is expected to generally highlight the diversity and similarities of Kenya’s indigenous heritage.