The show is yet to begin for East African film critics
Film criticism is a conspicuously absent topic within the Kenyan film circles. With the exception of 2008 when the Goethe-Institut in Nairobi, Kenya, brought together participants to train them on film criticism, no other efforts have been in place.
The cinematic world elsewhere may be a vibrant one just as is the case across East Africa. However, unlike many other vibrant industries like Hollywood, Bollywood and others that are emerging in the backyard, where film critics remain as important as the film director, the East African industry is in a sorry state when it comes to film criticism.
While the region strives to grow its industry to be on par with other world industries, prominent issues that are given attention are matters of film distribution and funding. The absence of outspoken critics has replicated in the mass media where journalists hardly focus on serious criticism but resolve to report on films as part of inserts in the entertainment segments. Consequently, this has resulted in a scenario where both the filmmaker and the consumer are less informed about issues surrounding the appreciation of the world’s seventh art: Film.
As a result, not only is the audience ignorant of this art, but the same also spills over to the filmmakers themselves. It is only in Kenya that a filmmaker will rightly stand before a gathering and ask any person dissatisfied with his work to go and do it in a better way that he or she knows.
There is a clear disconnect between film critics working in the Kenyan film sector as it can hardly be referred to as an industry. Interested perhaps in making their own films, these critics tend to put down works by current filmmakers as they belief that they are better placed to make films on that particular theme or area. The end result is that criticism is not taken seriously and aspiring critics resort to dabbling in entertainment reporting, as criticism in the country hardly exists.
Being in Berlin therefore gives me the opportunity not only to understand the situation in other countries with regard to film criticism, but also provides me with a platform to learn from other critics who work in countries where film criticism drives the film industry. I believe it will not only give me a chance to discuss issues that affect film criticism worldwide, but also enhance the understanding of the same.
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