Kiriamiti’s My Life in Crime being
made to a movie is a good move for
industry, given that it is one of the
most successful books the country has
ever had.
Unlike in the Kenyan movie industry,
some of the most successful
Hollywood movies have been
adaptation from great books. This is
mostly because it takes great books
and writing in order to be made into
a movie. Examples of books that have
been successfully adapted to movies
in Hollywood include: A series of
books by George RR Martin; A Song
of Ice and Fire; A Clash of Kings,
, A Feast for Crows
and A Dance with Dragons. Together
they combine to make the Game of
Thrones.
These are books with great narratives.
They are books that you read and you
feel like you want more because you
already have a mental picture. They
are books with a concept. Tell me of
any kid born of the technological era
who does not know of Harry Potter, a
series of books by J.K Rowling. There
are several other successful books
made into movies.
Steve Pressfield, one of the best
Hollywood writers, in his book,
Nobody Wants to Read Your Shit,
he talks about everything a great
writer would employ in their work. He
talks about concepts in advertising,
literature and film. In his book, he also
explains how to make a great movie
from a book. Books have an added
advantage in terms of illustrations
while the movie has only pictures. The
picture can be employed to convey the
meaning. watch and relate to.
Most of Kenyan script w riters pay
attention to contemporary issues.
When you watch local shows like
Machachari, Inspekta Mwala, Papa
Shirandula, The Real House Helps
of Kawangware, among others, you
will realise that they are laced with
current trends. Like when the wave
of slay queen takes hits, they will be
on it, when swearing in and elections
become the in thing, they jump right
in. It is true that these are mostly
things we experience in the society.
But can they stand the test of time? students. The very set books have also
Most of our books are proven to
stand the test of time. Examples are,
the other day after the low turnout
at Kasarani Stadium on Jamhuri Day
celebrations, several people were
quoting phrases in Kifo Kisimani. Even
though they were published long
time ago, you can still see some of
the themes happening in the society
today. Even the few successful Kenyan
movies like Nairobi Half Life were
based on problems that have stuck
with us since independence.
This is a trait covered in the books
that will do our movies justice when
employed, for the sake of the coming
generations to have something to
Now, the closest we have come to
acting out several books at a go has
been through different theatres acting
the school set books for high school
been made into movies even though
most of the time lacking quality. It is
clear the Kenyan movie industry can
build on that and open the space.
Therefore, with a great funding for
shootings and casting, the books by
our great writers might be one of the
best shot for the Riverwood industry to
take off.
In the rush to find new stories,
Riverwood has recognised what film
lovers have known for years: there is
plenty of beloved material ripe for
adaptation, sitting on shelves. While
grumbling about crummy adaptations
can still be heard here and there, there
is more enthusiasm and excitement
among fans for seeing their favourite
book turned into a television show or
blockbuster film. While not every book
will be the next Game of Thrones-sized
hit, it gets the novel out to a larger
audience, who will hopefully turn out
to their local bookstore to read it first.
F i l a m u K e n y a PA G E 3 3 n o w p l a y i n g