KENYA YOU CAN'T BAN THE WOLF OF WALL STREET

It is about time the governors of Kenya’s film industry accepted that our community inevitably is exposed to other cultures and practices of the world. The only difference between us and the West is that they are bold enough to express some of the themes and topics considered to be a taboo in this part of the world. If we can do the same through creative stories and motion pictures, local film makers can get more funding and investors, which will ensure that their productions see the light of day, locally and globally. Following the ban of Wolf of Wall Street by the Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB), a lot of outrage was seen on the Kenyan internet space. However, the movie had been out two weeks prior to the ban. Why didn’t KFCB just move to have it ‘R’ rated? Considering the latest IT developments like piracy and YouTube, the Board should instead be seeking more innovative ways to be relevant to Kenya’s film industry.

After studying the KFCB Guidelines, I have come to the conclusion that almost 80 percent of the content on TV should be banned. Looking through Section Five of the guidelines, for example, content that contains crime, violence and images of dead bodies or seriously injured people depicting violent gangster behaviour are restricted. Their rationale is that they induce, incite, reinforce and glorify violence and terror thereby being against the maintenance of law and order and promote anti-national attitudes. Other restricted themes include sex, obscenity and nudity, occult and horror, drugs, alcohol and other harmful substances, propaganda for war, hate speech and incitement. When you analyze these themes, it is obvious we have watched numerous films and movies from our local TV stations containing such. These themes are the selling points of movies and films so why the double standards?

In 2009 the Kenyan horror film Otto-The blood Bath was banned. Reason: too much violence and bloody dead bodies. How many horror films have we watched on our home screens? Remember Saw? Ever since, we have not seen Jitu Films or any other company attempt to make such a horror film. As a result we have seen some of these producers shying away from new attempts while others seek an international platform and market. When this is done to home-made productions under the guise of censorship and morality, it’s crippling the economy of the industry.

Nigeria’s Nollywood sees the making of at least 600 films annually. Their film industry is the second largest employer in the economy next to agriculture (according to 2012 statistics). Going by that, the number of films Kenyan film industry produces yearly is very low, although the production of local programs is going up. It is high time we borrowed a leaf from Nigeria. Nollywood grew to be what it is because there was a wide population in Nigeria possessing VHS machines and local content to be watched, as revealed by Jim Iyke, one of the richest actors in Nigeria. He also highlights the fact that when their industry started the productions were very jua kali. But the more their audience bought into the local productions, the more support the industry gained even from their government. It is why they are able to host regional/continental film
awards galas like Africa Movie Awards (AMA).

Kenyans can improve and be more successful with the support of governing bodies like KFCB and the KFC (Kenya Film Commission). They should work together and creatively have power to judge films worth investing in and make necessary recommendations. This can result in powerful reproductions of the films and lead to penetrating the global audience. This is just one of the ways KFCB can remain relevant in these innovative times. The local bans stifle creativity leaving our film industry empty and unadventurous. Motion pictures are targeted at different audiences. Kenyan creatives cannot afford to be controlled when it comes to how to tell their stories. After all, audiences have already been exposed to most themes and content creators need to catch up with new trends. If the banning trend persists, we shall just be a territorial industry while Nigeria, South Africa and the rest of Africa penetrate global audiences. Let us build our film industry. Let us invest in it and promote creativity.

Liz Lenjo is an Intellectual Property and Entertainment Lawyer and an Advocate of the High Court. For more on Liz, visit lizlenjo.com You Can’t Ban the Wolf of Wall Street

By Liz Lenjo

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