Mugambi Nthiga: Government doesn’t support film industry

Kati Kati, a film Mugambi Nthiga wrote has been submitted to the Oscars. Kati Kati was selected to represent Kenya in the Best Foreign Language Films category at the 90th Academy Awards in 2018. The film has won a number of accolades including the 2017 Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival’s Emerging Filmmaker Award and 2017 Africa Movie Viewer’s Choice Awards for East Africa.

Where did the idea for Kati Kati come from?

We wanted to let people know that the afterlife is not as simple as we think it is. We wanted them to consider that the end of our lives on this side is not the end and it might be the beginning of something else. The stuff that we carry here on earth doesn’t really leave us and we have to actually let go before we go to the next life.

How did you break into acting and script writing?

It’s something that I have always wanted to do. I would like to say I broke the door but I believe I kicked that door down. It was really hard to break in and the first paying gig was after I had finished campus. I still think I’m breaking in. There used to be a musical series at Mavuno Church where I volunteered to act and direct. One day I was asked to brainstorm on a story but I didn’t write anything. Later when I was directing the play I realised that there were so many things I wanted to tweak. However the next project I was told to write and that is how it started.

There has been a lot of talk about the Kenyan film industry, what’s your take on its growth?

There is a lot of potential and we are realising it now more than ever. A lot of us have decided to take it in our own hands because there is very little support from the government. We have a Cabinet Secretary whose name is uttered every time we have a commission (of inquiry) and parastatals that cater to the film industry, but collectively they have done nothing for the Oscar nominated Kati Kati apart from handling the paper work. This government gives nothing to the film industry.

Do the Kalasha Awards and MachaFest motivate film makers to do a better job?

In the past we have seen Kalasha Awards give trophies to films which were not as deserving as other films. I don’t think the point of the award is to award the same thing and I would say the same for MachaFest. They can do better; there is no way you can refer to these awards as the Kenyan Oscars.

If you were not an actor what else would you do?

I think I would be a teacher. I still do that on the side once in a while.