Vipi Radio
A young, aspiring actor from upcountry Kenya dreams of becoming a success in the big city. In pursuit of this and to the chagrin of his brother and parents, he makes his way to Nairobi: the city of opportunity.
Nairobi Half Life Storyline
Nairobi Half Life celebrated 10 years since its release through a watch party. The film was released in 2012. The film marked Tosh Gitonga’s directorial debut.
The internationally-acclaimed and award-winning film still holds the record for cinema attendance for a Kenyan local film, having opened to packed cinemas and running for 25 weeks in Kenya, a first for local movies.
Speaking about the film’s budget, Tosh has previously said that he still has no idea how much it was-
That budget question is always asked and I find it difficult to answer because Nairobi Half Life was the product of a training programme and we were all on a stipend pay, so not everybody was being paid their rates. It is therefore very difficult to say how much that film cost,”
What we cared about was that we were able to roll the cameras. I am someone who sees further and I could see what that film was going to do for us.”
Tosh Gitonga The film was shot in real time, in Nairobi and other parts of the country. No extras were paid or used during production.
Nairobi Half Life was selected as the Kenyan entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards, but did not make the final shortlist, and is the first time Kenya has submitted a film in this category.
One critic has descried the film as “a dynamic crime drama that comes across as fundamentally honest and vividly realistic”.
Nairobi Half Life bagged four Awards at the 2014 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards in March 2014.
CAST: Joseph Wairimu as Mwas, the late Olwenya Maina as Oti, Nancy Wanjiku Karanja as Amina, Mugambi Nthiga as Cedric, Paul Ogola as Mose, Antony Ndung’u as Waf, Johnson Gitau Chege as Kyalo, Kamau Ndungu as John Waya, Abubakar Mwenda as Dingo, Mburu Kimani as Daddy M, Mehul Savani as Khanji, Maina Joseph as Kimachia
Nairobi Half Life will be streaming on Netflix from 21st October, Friday, 2022.
