Cinematographic techniques in three Kenyan films

Abstract

This study investigates cinematography in Kenyan feature films from 1980 to 2010. Informed by Michael Rabiger’s (2008) view of film form as the manner in which content is presented, it is grounded on the assumption that the formal trajectories of the Kenyan feature films in the industry’s first three decades have been shaped, to a large extent by certain historical, economic or sociopolitical dynamics that characterized the country in that period. Three films, Kolormask (Gamba, 1986), Saikati (Mungai, 1992) and Unseen, Unsung, Unforgotten (Ombogo-Scott and Mbuthia, 2008) are analysed to form a basis for this discussion. Each of the three films represents a decade in the history of feature film making in post-independent Kenya. A film represents a decade because the rate of film production per year was extremely low as the industry began. This continues to change today. Text analysis and interviews with film-makers form the larger sources of primary data for this study.