The Kenya Film Commission announced the awarded projects of the first cycle of its Film Empowerment Program launched in April 2020. The Commission is responsible for developing, promoting and marketing the Kenyan film industry and has developed and undertaken various intervention programs since the onset of the Corona pandemic to cushion artistes specifically in film production.

Individuals, companies and organizations were required to submit funding applications to the Commission from 28th April 2020 to 10th June 2020 in the following categories: Development, Production and Marketing & Distribution. Specific conditions were laid down for each funding category and it was important for applicants to take careful note of the conditions before submitting their application. This Program is aimed at increasing the number of quality local films made in Kenya.

A total of 72 film makers who submitted their projects for consideration span 48 films for production, 20 to be developed, 3 films to be marketed and distributed. While each category of funding had its own specific criteria, the ultimate goal was to ensure that filmmakers ranging from emerging to those with experience benefit equitably from the film industry empowerment program funds.

The evaluation process was done on the basis of the applicant’s responsiveness to mandatory requirements provided and 45 applications were nominated and categorized as follows; 13 to be considered under development, 31 for consideration in production and 1 for Marketing & Distribution. The winning projects are;