Mvera, the Kenyan film, has been selected to represent Kenya in the upcoming 94th edition of the Oscars, under the International Best Feature Category. The committee said that this year they received three submissions from Kenya namely, Shimoni by Wangechi Ngugi, Unheard Voices by William Okoth, and Mvera by AR Films Production Limited. The Oscars committee added that the submissions received this year are a clear indication that Kenya’s film industry is primed to compete on the international stage as there is a general improvement in the story and acting going by the submissions that we received.
Mvera is a film by a renowned Kenyan Award-winning filmmaker and CEO of AR Films, Daudi Anguka. The film is a story of a corrupt leadership which has left a community in Mombasa in the grips of poverty. As a result, a local company owned by a shrewd millionaire, Thabiti, offers young people the opportunity to find work abroad. Mvera, a self-centered lady who is also on a mission to search for her lost mother, and also one of the applicants soon discovers that they are all trapped in an organ trafficking ring. She is forced into a hero’s journey as she tries to make it back home to warn the villagers about Thabiti – a man they plan to vote in as Governor for all the “support” he is giving to the community.
Written and directed by Anguka, Mvera was produced entirely in the Coast, Screenplay by Voline Ogutu, Kahindi Yaa and featured Linah Sande, Patrick Owino, Hillary Namanje, Kibibi Salim, Susan Kadide and Carorita Mutua. Executive Producer of the film was Daudi Anguka. According to Anguka, the film was inspired by the current generation of people who want to tell their stories but didn’t get a chance to speak it out. The film premiered on September 9, 2023, at the Nyali Cinemax, Mombasa and its screening is currently country wide.