Films use certain elements to evoke emotion, and the real test of a documentary isn’t what it does to a critic in a dark controlled theatre, it’s what it does to a milk lady trying to mind her business.
Day 2 of Kitale film week featured the screening of The People Shall, directed by Mark Maina and Nick Wambugu, at Kapsongo at 7:30 PM. This narrative will be told through the eyes of two unlikely film critics, the milk lady and the village drunkards.
People gathered, curious, though initially more drawn to the loud sound and bright lights than anything on screen. The milk lady in a shop nearby, continued her work unbothered. After all, she had the main ingredient to tomorrow’s tea.
Halfway through, you know how documentaries can overdo it with the soundtrack, the milk lady stirred. Not enough to abandon her business, but enough to notice.
Then we arrived at June 25th, 2024 part of the documentary. Something shifted and she could no longer be nonchalant and just like that, the milk lady was on her feet, hapo mbele ya class, fully locked in. She even ignored a customer trying to buy milk. Kalamba down.
Now, I’m not saying the production was flawless, there were hiccups, some repeated footage here and there. But it was easy to forgive. Maybe the msanii wa Photoshop (as KJ put it) was off that day, or caught up in another maandamano, it’s Kenya, after all.
As for our other main characters, the village drunkards, their moment came during the Q&A. They were moving like Prime Miguna when he still had his passport, throwing around words like ‘agendas’ and ‘terms’ with reckless abandon. Others channeled their inner Jackie Chan in full drunken master mode, attempting to practice what they had seen on screen.
This is the power of film. Screening The People Shall to this crowd was a daring but necessary move. This is one of those documentaries guaranteed to pull a reaction out of anyone watching, whether they came for the film or just to sell milk or have their 3 beers for the road.
