The Kenyan film industry is once again celebrating a milestone as another locally-produced film prepares to make its grand entry into global streaming platform Netflix.
The feature film, dubbed ’40 Sticks’, a 95-minute Kenyan thriller set in Nairobi, will on Friday November 20, 2020 make its debut on the platform.
This now comes as the third local film on Netflix, hot on the heels of Poacher, Sincerely Daisy and Disconnect; all of which received fairly warm receptions.
The ’40 Sticks’ thriller revolves around a group of death row prisoners trapped in a crashed prison bus striving to stay alive while a mysterious killer lurks in the shadows.
It was shot in Nairobi across 5 locations over a 16-day shoot period in February 2019, and was produced by SensePlay in partnership with Film Studios Kenya, Bingi Media and Ogopa Inc; the Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) officially rated the film 16.
’40 Sticks’, based on a fictional story created by Frank G. Maina, was directed by Victor Gatonye, written by Voline Ogutu and Executive Produced by Fakii Liwali.
It stars some of the country’s seasoned actors such as Robert Ageng’o, Cajetan Boy, Mwaura Bilal, and Arabron Nyyneque alongside Xavier Ywaya, Shiviske Shiviski and Andreo Kamau.
Gatonye has previously directed Dreamchild (Kenyan feature film), Kina (TV series on Maisha Magic+), Sunrise (TV series on Showmax), East and Women of Obiero (both TV films on Showmax).
Executive Producer Fakii Liwali, on his part, said “We picked a rare genre for Kenya and ran with it, and the team did very well if I may say so myself. We are excited that we now get to show Kenya and the world what Kenya is capable of, and we hope that Kenyans will give us a chance and watch the film when it premieres.”
40 Sticks will be available in Africa, US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Below is the trailer:
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