My Kenya, My Story: COVID-19 Edition Winners

This past April, Kenya Film Commission sent out a call for submissions for their film competition dubbed 'My Kenya My Story'. It's an annual film competition for short Kenyan films shot exclusively using mobile phones. This competition seeks to inspire creativity among aspiring filmmakers in the country and to widen the scope of filmmaking.

This year's theme was angled on the current universal call to stay at home and maintain social distancing due to the ongoing pandemic.

A five-member jury was tasked with reviewing the entries, shortlisting of the nominees and tallying of votes. Their vote constituted 70% while an online public voting exercise brought in 30% of the total vote.

For the second year in a row, David Waronja scooped the top prize of Ksh 200,000 for his film Automedic. It's a film about a young man who's taken up the task of taking care of his ailing sister. Through his ingenuity, he crafts a life-support system for his sister that's powered by a truck. When he runs out of fuel to power the machine, he has to come up with an alternative or risk losing his sister.

The film 2024 by Mandela Midamba emerged second scooping a cash prize of Ksh 150,000. It's about a young woman struggling to survive a post-apocalyptic world.

Mmoja by Omar Hamza Hassan came in third and received a cash prize of Ksh 100,000. Mmoja tells the story of a man who comes face to face with a deceased Coronovirus victim. Reminding him that behind the statistics are real human beings whose lives have been altered.

Muzzled by Sammy Mwaura and Covid 19 by Paul Gaturu scooped Ksh 25,000 each as Jury Special Mentions; Muzzled highlighted a present struggle of People Living With Disability whereas Covid 19 made a commendable attempt at an action film. Other 15 shortlisted received tokens of Ksh 5,000 from the Commission.