A television series that received massive attention from broadcasters around the world in 2003 before its completion has premiered in Kenya. The national broadcaster, Kenya Broadcasting Corporation Television, is airing the series over the next 24 months.

Sigana moto moto, the 52-episode television series by Cinematic Solutions, caused a stir at the 8th Southern African International Film and Television Market (Sithengi) in Cape Town, South Africa, with South African, Zimbabwean, Zambian and Namibian television stations placing orders for the American-styled syndication series. In the model, producers of films only license broadcasters (broadcast rights) to air the material but retain the overall ownership.

Bob Nyanja, who was the first producer and director of the then acclaimed Reddykyulass stand up comedy show that poked fun at politicians and public figures in the twilight of Daniel arap Moi’s regime, is the producer and director of Sigana moto moto that is edited at Johari Studios (sound) and Cinematic Solutions (video) and shot on location at Baraka Films Limited. Nyanja says he has made Sigana Moto Moto on multi-track for television and radio and that it will also be available on DVD, VCD, and audio CD. Sigana Moto moto are traditional stories from various communities in Kenya performed to the backdrop of modernity by Kenya’s premier oral performers, Zamaleo Act.

Among the stories Cinematic Solutions has immortalised on film are the legends of Lwanda Magere (rendered as Mwamba and presented in Kiswahili), and Fumo Liyongo (told in English), Brothers at War, The strongest animal, Conference of the birds, Wamweru and wacici, The canoe spirit, and Safari ya vipusa. They are still shooting series at Baraka Films as the screening goes on. “As soon as we have exhausted Kenyan stories,” says Nyanja, “we will move on to Uganda and then Tanzania in the spirit of the East African community. We are also mixing folk stories with modern ones to avoid a time lag.”

He says his target is to have the series screened across Africa and the world “in order to show the world there is an alternative to Western TV series.” The narration of stories in Sigana moto moto is interspersed with music, chants and dance around a fire. Nyanja has always trodden his chosen film career path quietly. Although he has made a couple of commercials and corporate films, perhaps it is worth noting that Nyanja was an assistant director on Tomb Raider II that stars Lara Croft, and location manager for the 2003 Academy-winning Nowhere in Africa that were made in Kenya. He has directed seven TV commercials—Always, Pampers, Aerial detergent—that are currently running in Ghana and Nigeria.

Sigana moto moto (also known as Sigana Fireside Tales) shows how people can come to terms with the world by transposing the past with the present through all time loved African folk stories with a twist in the tail. Well-harmonised songs and dance accompany the tales, seducing and then freeing the imagination of the audience in order to freely explore the world of fantasy with the narrator. Wacici and Wamweru is tale of jealousy, intrigue and betrayal. In this well loved Gikuyu folk story, Wamweru, overcome by envy because her twin sister is more popular than she, conspires with her mother against Wacici. They trick her into going to a section of the forest inhabited by ghosts so she may harmed.

Angered by their treacherous act, Wacici’s father curses and banishes Wamweru and her mother to live with animals in the forest. With elaborate but slow-paced narration, dramatisation, and songs, the tale captures the imagination of the audience who sings along, boo and ululate in all the right places. On screen. Brothers at war is set in a traditional Luo community and chronicles the beginning of rivalry among Luo sub-tribes. In the story, Nyipir uses the royal spear left to Labongo by their late father to save the community from a destructive elephant while Labongo is away. However the elephant flees with the spear stuck into its flesh. When Labongo hears of the loss of the spear upon his return, he is so infuriated that he demands that Nyipir should recover it.

Nyipir goes into the forest where he meets a pitiable elderly woman whose eyes are oozing with wax and pus. The woman requests him to lick the repulsive pus that he does without realising the action will impart on him protective powers that will enable him to recover the spear from the ferocious animal. Not long after this incident, Labongo’s daughter swallows Nyipir’s magical bead, forcing the latter to demand its recovery. But this can only be possible with the slaying of the girl. As Labong’o struggles to retrieve the bead from the coiled intestines of the hapless girl, a dirge spews forth. This heinous act drives enmity between the two brothers to a new level, complicating their lives and that of their families and friends.

Through such a story, film lovers are likely to experience a vicarious past and a oneness with various cultures of the present as they gain insight into the motives and patterns of human behavior. Other notable films delving into African mythology and folktales include Nigeria’s Blood Hunt and Hollywood’s Lion King. Whereas the former is a romantic fantasy based on African mythology set in 1865 and refers to a generic West African tribe’s search for the first-born daughter of their late king, the latter utilises East African characters, wildlife, landscapes, images and motifs to entertain the world.

Like music and dance, storytelling is a living art that only comes to life in performance. One feels that Cinematic Solutions and Zamaleo Act, led by Odero Aghan—Kenya’s best-known oral performer—are doing Kenya proud. The Sigana moto moto production is a collaborative effort between Cinematic Solutions Limited and Zamaleo Arts and Culture Trust. The brains behind Cinematic Solutions—a turnkey film and video production company—are Nyanja and motion graphics expert Joseph Ouma.

Back to Top