Cajetan Boy’s ‘Strata’ shines at Riverwood awards
Cajetan Boy at premiere of his film Strata. The second Riverwood Academy Awards were held last Saturday at Alliance Francais in Nairobi, with Cajetan Boy’s film emerging the biggest winner. PHOTO | MARGARETTA wa GACHERU
What you need to know:
- Strata is the story of a woman, Jazz (Stadler), on a quest to find out the truth behind the killing of her fiancé Zeal (Lukalia).
- Mshamba took home three awards— best television supporting actor, best television lead actor and best series.
- A lot of the productions on display — including the winning film — had embarrassing basic issues such as terrible lighting and inaudible sound.
The second Riverwood Academy Awards were held last Saturday at Alliance Francais in Nairobi, with Cajetan Boy’s film emerging the biggest winner.
The awards were given out by notables in the media, art and entertainment industry, including singer Juliani, actress Nini Wacera, king of Kikuyu comedy Kihenjo and Nation Media Group head of TV production Justus Tharao.
Some of the night’s notable winners were song producer Clemo, of Calif Records, for best music score and the comedy show Mshamba that took home three awards— best television supporting actor, best television lead actor and best series.
The night, however, belonged to Cajetan Boy’s Strata, which took home best editing, best supporting actress and best picture awards.
The film written and directed by Cajetan Boy, stars Sabina Stadler of the Big Brother fame and Gilbert Lukalia, who has appeared in international films such as The Marshall of Finland, Lost in Africa and The First Grader.
LONG WAY TO GO
Strata is the story of a woman, Jazz (Stadler), on a quest to find out the truth behind the killing of her fiancé Zeal (Lukalia).
She encounters some trouble owing to the fact that she is biracial and discovers many hidden truths about the identity and the criminal dealings of her late fiancé, including a criminal history, an ailing mother and a family he had kept hidden from her.
The chief guest was University of Nairobi Associate Professor Bitange Ndemo.
Others in attendance were former MP Nderitu Mureithi and the chairman of the Kenya Film Classification Board, Bishop Jackson Kosgei.
Dr Ndemo congratulated the organisers for promoting local film.
He urged them to produce more Kenyan stories through film and take back the role of entertainment in Kenyan homes from Hollywood and Nollywood actors.
He encouraged the filmmakers present to turn film in Kenya into a $2 billion industry in the next few years.
Save for a few hitches, Riverwood Academy Awards show was well arranged and coordinated.
Their efforts to contribute to the film industry by recognising and awarding those who have excelled is timely and commendable. These efforts, however, need to be met halfway by the producers and directors.
A lot of the productions on display — including the winning film — had embarrassing basic issues such as terrible lighting and inaudible sound, two problems that cheap technology has in the recent past rendered easy to solve.
