Actors re-enact the Mau Mau in The Oath, a short film by Jua Kali Films

There appears to be renewed interest among filmmakers in the Mau Mau who rose up against the British Colonial rule in Kenya in 1952. Two filmmakers—Kibaara Kaugi of the Film Department of the Ministry of Information and Communications and Nathan Collett and Leslie Khadondi of Hot Sun Films—have recently done low-budget fictional films on Mau Mau. First to be made and launched was Jua Kali's The Oath, a 30-minute film in two parts. The Oath is set in Central Kenya at the height of the Mau Mau rebellion (1952-56) against the British rule over land alienation.

The first part of The Oath is a short story of two brothers—Mwangi and Joseph--introduced by an elder in a story to children. The story is followed by a documentary about the making of the film, in which cast and crew explain their filmmaking approach. While Mwangi is a labourer on a white settler's farm, struggling to hold on to the land that his father considered theirs, Joseph is a pastor who cannot take the side of the colonialists or those fighting them.

"Although it is a fictional story, The Oath is based on careful research and adherence to authenticity of events during the Mau Mau period in Kenya during the 1950's," Collett says. The film appears to be grappling with the controversial question of whether the Mau Mau were nationalist freedom fighters or cold-blooded terrorists who were ready to cut throats of any one opposed to them as reported in David Lovatt Smith's My Enemy, My friend or Meja Mwangi's Carcass for Hounds. Collett and Khadondi appear to be painting Mau Mau positively and thus this may weaken the film as most people who have read history of Kenya are unlikely to agree. And certainly not after reading My Enemy My friend and witnessing the violence Mau Mau mete out on children, women and men whose blood they also drink in an orgy not unlike that of frenzied demons.

"For the British settlers, Mau Mau meant fear and terror based on violence. A Kenyan of British ancestry remembers that as a little girl living through the Mau Mau rebellion, all of her family and friends were terrified of being poisoned by their African cooks. A climate of fear pervaded among the British settlers, yet Mau Mau actually killed very few British settlers," Collett says. “Thousands of Mau Mau fighters were tortured and killed by the British military. The role of the Mau Mau in the struggle for independence was almost forgotten by many Kenyans until recently when the Mau Mau were rehabilitated by the government of Mwai Kibaki, who was elected on a reform coalition ticket in December 2002." Having taken sides and thus sacrificed artistic neutrality at the altar of activism, it becomes difficult to take Jua Kali seriously. "As 'jua kali' implies," Collet says, "we are about stories that are homegrown, bottom up, that come from and speak to the wananchi. We use 'jua kali' methods coupled with universal story-telling techniques. Yet we put a strong emphasis on high production values, so we are not 'low quality' as jua kali might imply."

Filming of The Oath

Collett is a student at the Los Angeles (California)-based University of Southern California's film school in the United States while Khadondi is a producer and sound technician in Nairobi. "Hot Sun (Jua Kali) Films is using innovative approaches to filmmaking in Kenya, that promises a greater degree of authenticity and originality than more conventional filmmaking approaches," Collett says. "Hot Sun Films builds on the strengths that are readily available in Kenya rather than try to mimic Hollywood techniques. We think this is the way forward for filmmakers in Kenya. Technology is important but storytelling and authenticity is most important. We hope to reach audiences in Kenya and throughout the world inspired by our innovative filmmaking techniques."

The cast of THE OATH participated on a voluntary basis, Collett says. “We drew from all segments of society, not just from the middle classes or upper classes. Most of the cast came from the so-called disadvantaged sections of society, and many had never acted in a film before. The cast was able to draw on their own history of struggle, of living in the ‘slums’, to portray the Mau Mau." "In African tradition, elders tell stories to the youth under shades of trees in the hot sun. Inspired by this tradition, Hot Sun Films tells authentic and entertaining stories using the latest digital video technology. Our movies open up cultural space for Africans and our stories increase appreciation of African life and history throughout the world. We are looking for people who have good stories, skills or financial resources to join us in our next project." Hot Sun Films encourages African youth to go beyond international, commercialised youth culture to reshape their own history and culture.

Reke Tumanwo (May we part in peace), Kaugi's film, like Collett's The Oath, is about the forest fighters who rebelled against the British. Like the latter, it was also shot on an almost zero budget by world standards—KSh1 million (about US$12,500); many of the cast and crew members volunteered their services, he says, announcing that Reke Tumanwo will be released in December 2004 or "early January 2005." The film—shot in Gikuyu in three phases, October-November 2003, May-June 2004, August-September 2004—revolves around Njeri, a girl who flees to the forest to fight the British in revenge after they kill her brother. Njeri, played by primary school teacher Simoricious Wangare, is based on Mau Mau fighter Wamuyu wa Gakuru, who appears in the movie's opening scene telling her grandchildren how Kenya achieved independence in 1963. Also starring in Reke Tumanwo are Jans Karsholt as Commander Anderson, Peter Ndung’u as Wamwega, and Paul Gatonye as General Mathenge. Asked whether his making the film in Gikuyu and sub-titling it in English is not both chauvinistic and limits the reach of the film, Kaugi says, "My target is local audience.

What impact have all those films made in Kenya in English had in the country?" Kaugi who wrote, produced and directed Reke Tumanwo with Gadson Waweru on the camera, says, “The qualification for being cast in the film was that one had to be 80 percent fluent in Gikuyu and have a 95 percent working knowledge of Gikuyu." But why tackle a subject that is likely to divide the fractious Kenya—did he do it to celebrate the return of the Kikuyu to power? "No", he says, "I would be trivialising Kenya's independence if I were to claim that the Kikuyu were solely responsible for bequeathing Kenya independence." Kaugi says the idea to make Reke Tumanwo came to him in April 2002 long before Mwai Kibaki became president upon reading Meja Mwangi's Carcass for Hounds. "I don't believe the Mau Mau were entirely responsible for bringing about independence in Kenya. Before them we had the Mazrui rebellion at the coast.

MThen there was Koitalel arap Samoei of the Nandi, Dini ya Musambwa of Elijah Masinde, Muindi Mbingu of the Akamba, the Gusii and some other groups before the Mau Mau who were just one of these many phases of rebellion of the British rule." Kaugi believes he is treading on a controversial subject as disagreement reigns over the role of the Mau Mau in the history of independent Kenya. While some people argue the Mau Mau did not contribute much as the British had already given up on Kenya and were on their way out, others contend the rebellion delayed independence. Still others, especially populist Gikuyu, Embu, Meru Association (GEMA) politicians in the ruling National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) say it was indeed the Mau Mau who brought about independence.

The Mau Mau were drawn from the Kikuyu, Embu and Meru ethnicity and waged terror in the white highlands from Aberdare and Mount Kenya forests. After independence in 1963, Jomo Kenyatta, who ruled Kenya till his death in 1978, did not recognise the Mau Mau whom he described as a disease that should be cured. His successor, Daniel arap Moi, maintained the policy of his predecessor. Besides celebrating the role women played in the struggle for independence in this Gikuyu-language film, Kaugi says he is not making a partisan film. He strongly believes that donor funding "is messing up filmmaking in Kenya instead of helping it" as those who receive such monies simply "make films and put them on shelves without caring whether they are seen or not." He suggests it would be different if they were to 'sweat out' looking for funding as they would also feel obliged to exhibit such films as well.

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