Some may have read about the first locally produced movie, Mlevi in 1967 The film was released in Kenya in 1969. The film was produced by Ragbir Singh and Kuljit Pal. The movie was produced by their private company African Producers.
This was the first cinema film in Swahili! The movie starred Oliver Musila Litondo and Mzee Pembe.
In a 2024 segment on KCB Channel 1 about the history of Kenyan film, Oliver Litondo said that he tried unsuccessfully to locate this pioneering film. (see below)
The film had repeated many times across Kenya. I remember watching this film at the Regal Theatre in Mombasa around 1973 during its repeat release.
By the time I watched it, the black and white standard print was full of scratches and cuts and all spliced up!
There was a lot of excitement amongst the audience. I remember sitting in the balcony in the Saturday matinee show. The balcony was more than half full.
I remember a scene of an old penniless man sitting by the Jamia mosque in Nairobi and he was later aided by others. The audience was quite emotional. At the time the talk was that the movie was a remake of a Hindi movie!
The balcony audience was glued to the screen. They waited until the end of the credits to leave. As the moviegoers left the balcony, one man with his whole family in attendance very emphatically said that these were the type of films he wanted to see!
top photo: Mzee Pembe
bottom photo: Oliver Litondo
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