Mugambi Nthiga

Created by the members of a Nairobi-based arts collective — who have removed their names from the film for fear of reprisal — this anthology film that dramatizes true-life stories from Kenya’s oppressed LGBTQ community is both a labour of love and a bold act of militancy.

Simon, an adopted boy of a Danish couple visiting Kenya with his mother, goes missing in Kibera slum. When his mother offers a reward on TV, the kidnappers are on the run.

Bereft of earthly memories, a new arrival in the afterlife struggles to recover the past, in this poetic fantasy that offers a dark reflection on personal atonement in the shadow of Kenya’s violent past. Imagine waking up one day in a barren wasteland. Amnesia leaves you clueless as to your whereabouts, your identity, and how you arrived. A small group of strangers welcomes you to a nearby oasis resort, and they reveal to you the nature of this new reality. You are dead. And this is the afterlife. This is what happens to Kaleche (Nyokabi Gethaiga) in the enigmatic opening sequence of Kati Kati, writer-director Mbithi Masya's poetic first feature film.

Our journey starts in Nairobi, one of the most vibrant metropolises of Africa. Your mission is to discover five creative spaces through the eyes of five unique collectives. You will choose your gender and the order in which you will be able to visit these spaces, and in each one of them, you will have to choose what to do and where to go next. You will end up in the biggest dumping site in Africa in search of human objects, in the gentrified Savannah in search of wildlife bones, escaping drones, running away from the data police or the religious fanatics, skating, drinking Jaba juice on top of a roof terrace, and if you make it, fly over a khat plantation, are you ready? Let’s go!

Mwas, a young aspiring actor from upcountry Kenya dreams of becoming an accomplished actor one day, and in pursuit of this, he makes his way to Nairobi, the city of opportunity. He quickly understands why Nairobi is nicknamed Nairrobery as he is bereaved of all his money and belongings and left alone in a city where he doesn’t know a soul. Luck or the lack of it brings Mwas face to face with the city’s criminals and forms a friendship with a small time crook who takes him in. He is quickly drawn into a world of crime as he struggles to pursue his dream of becoming an actor. Keeping the two worlds separate proves to be a challenge for Mwas as he steps into this unknown world called Nairobi.