Kenya Film Corporation, 1979

Interesting story here! (see below) It appears that after the fall of Amin, Kenya demanded Uganda pay KFC over 1 million shs. in settlement of its debt.

This must have been for KFC distributing various films including Hollywood films to cinemas in Uganda. It appears KFC also distributed films on behalf of Anglo American Film Distributors, the only other distributor allowed to operate in Kenya. While AAFD had rights to 20th Century Fox, United Artists, and Disney films, KFC had rights to Paramount, Columbia and Universal films.

While at Regal Cinema, Mombasa we never viewed KFC and AAFD as neo colonial firms?! People loved films! This was just business. KFC was a successful government owned entity!

Video Stores incursions into Kenya's Film Exhibition industry 1989!!

 By 1988 a US report titled 'Foreign Protection of Intellectual Rights and the effect on US Industry and Trade' identified Kenya among other countries for losses!!

By 1989 things in Kenya was becoming desperate as by then Indian movies were all watched at home on pirated VHS copies to the detriment of cinemas. It baffles the mind as to why KFC did not demand 50% of the revenues of the Video Stores as it did from the Kenyan Cinemas. In the West, video stores had to pay the distributors almost $100 a copy or share revenue at 50%. Pirated copies were rare!

Possibilities cited for inaction in Kenya include that 'big wigs' were involved in the VHS business, technocrats at KFC had been replaced during the Moi era with staff that had less knowledge of the film distribution & exhibition industry, the pace of VHS incursion was very quick & before solutions could be implemented, and the existence of a local culture of wanting something for free & low price with no regard to creators of intellectual property.

One of actions that KFC undertook was to gazette lists of Indian movies, making it specifically illegal for these films to be distributed to video libraries without obtaining approval from KFC!! (see below)! I guess the distributors ignored this?!

Naaz Cinema lobby, Mombasa!!

 Do you remember the wonderful Naaz cinema lobby where you could view the numerous posters of upcoming releases!! The lobby floor ceramic tiles was always gleaming and spotless. In the photo below you can see the doors to the stalls in the center. On the left was the cashier/book keeper (Suleiman) for the balcony. And on the right was the cashier/book keeper for the stalls - in the early 1970's you would have seen Suresh Chauhan here!

The lobbies at the Regal and Naaz in Mombasa resembled a village square with lots of continuous activity: patrons walking in to book tickets and going in, staff hanging around, by standers walking around to look at the posters & chat with the staff, film patrons leaving the auditorium during the interval to buy concessions, patrons coming in on their way to the bar etc. And of course there were always the bargain hunters who would gain access to the auditorium by slipping the doorman a little cash!! There was never a bored moment!

At the other end the lobby at the Kenya cinema was quiet and uneventful as you first had to buy a ticket to gain access to the lobby!! Almost no one got in to the Kenya cinema without a ticket!!

The Odeon Cinema, Kampala

 Advert in a local publication sometime in the 1950s:

There were 2 cinemas (Regal & Majestic) in Mombasa in 1944

 There were only 2 cinemas in 1944!! note how multi racial and multi faith the community was!

excerpts of a description of Mombasa and the cinemas from http://asmrb.pbworks.com/w/page/23143131/Pulp%20Mombasa

from the Seamen's Guide to Shore Leave, 1944:

Population 42,000

Hotels for Officers. MANOR, Salim Road, Tel. 112, rooms 15/50 up. PALACE, Killindini Road, tel. "Palace", rooms 15/- up. REX, Killindini Road, tel. 319, rooms 15/- up.

Seamen's Homes. SEAMEN'S INSTITUTE (Missions to Seamen, London), temporary quarters Killindini Road, tel. 262. Shower, canteen, reading and writing rooms, library, billiards, table tennis. THE SERVICES CANTEEN, tel. 432. Restaurant, lunch counter, reading and writing rooms, library, table tennis, concerts, dances, cinema, etc.

Seamen's Bank. Consult Port Captain, dock area.

Legal Aid. American Consulate, through the Provincial Commissioner.

Hospitals. European Hospital (whites), tel. 561. Native Hospital (colored), tel. 550.

Venereal Disease Clinics. At the hospitals (8 a.m. to 12 m.).

Physicians. Medical Officer, European Hospital. Dr. W. N. Sargent, Native Hospital. Dr. J. H. Chataway, Native Hospital.

Dentists. C. E. Thomas (dental surgeon), tel. 921.

Laundries. European Laundry, Killindini Road, tel. 209.

Amusements. Moving pictures: Regal; Majestic.

Points of Interest. The town itself. Fort Jesus, 16th century.

Caution: Not a "pay off" port. Seamen who miss their ships are subject to penalties provided by law. Tropical helmets should be worn because of great heat.

American Consulate: At Nairobi, 400 miles.

Most of the policemen are Sikhs; the railway staff, crane operators, and other "technical" people are largely Indians. Small shops are run by Arabs; larger shops and markets are run by Chinese, Goans, Persians, Indians, etc.. There are Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant churches, Hindu temples, mosques, etc

Local languages in Mombasa: English, Swahili. Arabic, Chinese dialects, Portuguese, Hindi, Farsi, etc. are used by immigrants and traders. Out of the 40,000 persons in Mombasa in 1932, "... 900 were Europeans, 6,000 were Arabs, 12,000 Asians, and 20,000 were Africans." Back in 1918, the total population was only 30,000, with only 230 Europeans

The Regal Theatre was constructed in 1931, on Salim Road.

Mohamed Rafi performed at the Regal Theatre, Mombasa 1956/57!!

 quote from Letters to the Editor Awaaz:

https://www.awaazmagazine.com/.../letters-to-the-editor

"Reading the varied and fascinating contributions on the Indian Cinema theme brought back some further memories. Ameer Janmohamed, in his ‘Romance of the Regal’ (extracted from his book) writes that the Regal Cinema had a stage behind the screen that was often used for live shows. I remember going to a musical concert by Mohamed Rafi and his ensemble visiting from India, in around 1956/57. This was the first time I had been to anything like that. Seeing them sing and play the various instruments, especially the electric guitar, made a huge impression. It was an exciting performance to a cheering full house."

photos:

Rafi on a 2003 stamp of India

Rafi on a 2016 stamp of India

Mohammed Rafi at the Mother India (1957) premiere

Mohammed Rafi in Nairobi

            

Casino Cinema, Nairobi (1964 advert)

The photo below on the right shows an advertisement in the Daily Nation for the film Rustom-E-Baghdad, Aug 1964!!...Wow!! 2nd week with continuous shows every day....there were around 170,000 Asians in Kenya around 1964 and 35% of Nairobi's population was Asian!!