Kenya | Multichoice Talent Factory

05.11.2019

Yoseph Baye Tegenge is a 26-year-old Ethiopian filmmaker who’s chasing his film directing dream, and is eager to add a sense of pan-Africanism to the industry.

“I really believe the African entertainment industry had great role in Pan-Africanism. The word ‘pan’ itself is [also] a cinema term, and I can [use] cinema [to] unite Africa,” Tegenge explains.

Victoria Philomena Nakitto is a 24-year-old Ugandan graphic designer and interior decorator with her heart set on becoming the most renowned production designer and scriptwriter in Africa.

When it comes to the elements that make a good film, according to 26-year-old Ugandan freelance filmmaker and photographer Talemwa Pius, it’s all about the relationship that a cast and crew have while on a film set.

“What makes a good film is how organised the entire cast and crew is while working on a certain project in a sense that if everyone does their job in the right way, while in sync with the rest of the crew, then you can’t help it but to make a good film,” Pius explains.

If given the chance to create a TV show, 24-year old Kenyan filmmaker Sally Ngoiri’s show would focus on the empowerment of women.

“I believe every woman deserves to feel good about themselves, and by empowering women a powerful force is created because women are the backbone of society,” Ngoiri explains. It’s no surprise then that the Kiambu-born creative’s favourite novels, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margret Atwood and The Harry Potter series by J.K Rowling, are written by women who are keenly aware of a woman’s role in society.

19-year-old Arusha-born high school graduate Priscilla Calvin Marealle is on a mission to become a film director. Given the chance to direct a TV show, hers would focus on the hidden talents among young Africans from all walks of life. At their essence, according to Marealle, is creativity.

“Creativity is the key to advancement, [and] to progress we need more creative personnel who are able to put great and unbeatable ideas on the table that portray and narrate our local stories. I believe that this is what the MultiChoice Talent Factory Academy is training us to be,” she says.

Philipo Ngonyani is a 25-year-old photography, poetry and travel enthusiast with a laser-sharp focus on becoming a film director.

“There is this young African generation that is hungry for good African content. My desire to feed them and satisfy their hunger is what fires me up,” says Ngonyani.

His favourite films are Farewell Ella Bella by Lwazi Mvusi, The Intern by Nancy Meyers and Bamako by Abderrahmane Sissako. When it comes to TV, Ngonyani’s favourite show is Friday Night Live.

Moses Irungu Muriuki is a 25-year-old Kenyan audio-visual content developer chasing his film directing dream career.

His favourite African film star is Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o, and the African film creative he looks up to the most is screenwriter Abel Mutua, who created a deeply relatable show for Kenyans in The Real House helps of Kawangware.

Given the chance to create his own TV show, Muriuki’s would be a nostalgic take on African households back in the 1980s, when owning a TV set was a community affair.

If there’s one thing that 21-year-old Kenyan freelancer Milanoi Kaelo Lenaiyasa could add to Africa’s video entertainment industry, it would be more documentaries about the continent, which she believes plays an important role in passing knowledge about Africa to the world.

“The fact that as a continent we have amazing stories that we can tell just inspires me to want to write more about them,” says Lenaiyasa.

If 21-year-old Kenyan film enthusiast Maurice Muendo Musyoki had the chance to create a TV show, his would be a reality show with a focus on individuals that made a success of themselves despite severe hardship. For Musyoki, this sort of show can go a long way towards inspiring young Kenyans living in difficult circumstances. He is also eager to refine his storytelling talent while at the MultiChoice Talent Factory Academy.

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