The Kenya Film Commission has today unveiled the 2022 nominees for the 12th edition of Kalasha International Film and TV Awards.
The selection process of the 217 films submitted was carried out by the jury of experts consisting of stakeholders drawn from film industry associations, corporate, government and industry professionals which was headed by Kenya Actors guild and chairperson of the 2022 Nomination Academy, Ms Valentine Kamau.
Kamau noted that the aim of the Kalasha International Film and TV awards scheduled to take place on December 3rd, 2022 is to promote culture, stories, creativity, and skills.
She added that the nomination process took place from August 24 to October 30 and involved review of 217 submitted films in 1204 categories. “There is notable improvement in scriptwriting with some films doing very well in structure and great storytelling,” said Kamau.
Further, Kamau stated that the use of good storytelling tools like flashbacks, story in a story, comedy, poetic irony, use of music and monologues results in an authentic film.
The Chief Executive Officer Kenya Film Commission, Mr. Timothy Owase, noted that the constant themes being those on Mental health awareness, Domestic violence, Elections, Substance and Drug abuse, Violence said that this year saw the number of submitted films go up compared to 149 films submitted in 2021.
“The submissions received were very competitive and showed a huge potential in the Kenyan film industry; however, there is still lack of authentic Kenyan stories from filmmakers and TV industry players while the international Award Category for East African countries was well embraced by Tanzania film industry, low uptake was noted from the other countries,” said Owase.
He added that Kalasha Awards have 39 categories with an addition of nine new categories that include; best regional film, best short documentary, best feature documentary, best makeup and hair stylist, best costume designer, best supporting actor in TV drama, best supporting actress in TV drama, best viewer’s choice (feature) and best viewer’s choice (TV drama).
“The best viewer’s choice categories in both feature film and TV drama will be 100 percent public vote after nomination by the jury. Some 10 nominees were nominated by the jury in each of the TV and feature film categories which will be subjected to the public for 100 percent voting,” said Owase.
Kalasha Film TV Awards is an initiative of the Kenya Film Commission that seeks to recognise talent in the different facets of Film and TV industry. Central to the commission’s mandate is the promotion of a vibrant local film industry.
Through the establishment of a fair and democratic set of regulations for the awards, the commission is continuously boosting a vibrant local scene by encouraging healthy competition amongst film makers, ensuring a high level of good practice within the industry.
By Isaac K’Obonyo and Ella Elizabeth
