Going through shit – But WHO CARES?

In February 2019 I found myself in Chosen Generation Church, Nakuru. I was there to meet my film colleague Wilson Osiolo over non-film related issues. Then his pastor, Rev. Ben Ng’ang’a, saw me. He came to say hi. “Movie man, how are you? You are so lost?”. I ignored the lost part but then the discussion quickly turned on moving making. He wanted me to make another movie for the church. That’s because in 2018 we had made the movie Hurt to Forgive for the same church.

And so Wilson joined the discussion from where we agreed we needed to start working on a project immediately. Later that evening I met Wilson at his house where I briefed him on the movie idea I had in mind, he didn’t like it, and back and forth, until we agreed to write a version of a true event my brother had shared with me. I called it NOBODY CARES.

It was Nobody Cares because we really do not care. Right now at this moment I’m sure you probably do not know what’s happening with your neighbor. You don’t know if they are going to afford rent at the end of the month, or whether they’ll be able to pay school fees come January, or if they have a sick dying loved one in some hospital and can’t afford to pay him/her a visit. I also don’t.

If you live in an urban area you probably do not care. I don’t know whether it is humanity to blame or urbanization – or evolution. In as much as people would like to dismiss the idea of survival for the fittest, the fact is those who can help those in need never care. The fact that capitalism is the most appreciated form of economic structure demonstrates just how survival for the fittest still reigns.

But that angle wasn’t going to be interesting enough for a church movie. We agreed that the church sermons ought to be enough to challenge the caring bit or lack thereof of a human heart. What we needed was a story where the viewer had a character to follow, a character to fall in love with, a character to sympathise with – and that’s why we shifted away from the neighborliness angle of the plot, to the character centric approach. And that’s how the title changed from NOBODY CARES, to WHO CARES?

WHO CARES is a movie done by Ustadi Films, for Chosen Generation Church, Nakuru. It focuses on the life of a form four student, Jesca (played by Ivy Maritim), who is about to sit her exams. Then the school realizes she has not completed her school fees. In desperation for fees she starts a journey to search for her father, a father her mother had told her was long dead.

The movie, inspired by true events, was written by Odipo Riaga and produced by Wilson Osiolo. Charles Richard, Actor Director based in Nakuru, came on board to direct the movie. Ivy Maritim was cast to play the main character Jesca Gello as Mourice Juma, Rose Nyambura, and Pamela Kenda played the main supporting characters. Other actors in the movie include Dorothy Kendy, Joy Mercy, Joyce Kerry, Victor Ayima, among others.

The movie whose trailer was released yesterday on YouTube will premier in Nakuru in February 2020, and all ya are welcome to the screening.

Also check out: Hurt to Forgive – A film by Ustadi Films for Chosen Generation Church, Nakuru

Enjoy the trailer. Don’t forget to leave a like, and a comment.