Jennifer Ochieng

@somto_Ihezue Everything Everywhere All at Once

My new painting. The Inheritance.

On the sidelines of the 79th Cannes Film Festival, we were pleased to host “Women in Cinema” celebrating women’s cinematic contributions. In attendance was Genevieve Nnaji, one of our spotlighted women and an icon of Nigerian cinema. #WomenInCinema #RedSeaIFF #RedSeaFilmFoundation #Cannes

After months of speculation, Christopher Nolan has confirmed that Lupita Nyong’o portrays Helen of Troy and her sister Clytemnestra in The Odyssey, a casting choice that has sparked online backlash from figures such as Elon Musk. Read here: sinemafocus.com/lupita-nyongo-…

My dear brother, Mau Mau fought against land alienation, police violence and lack of sovereignty. They were not alone. The trade unionists, Dini ya Msambwa and Barsirian arap Manyei were also in colonial detention at the same time. What made the status of the Mau Mau different is that the British decided to also engage in collective punishment of the Kikuyu Embu and Meru and pretend that the struggle was ethnic, not political. So few Kenyans know that the Maasai, the Kamba and the Luhya participated in the Mau Mau. Chief Mukudi of Samia was detained by the British for administering the Mau Mau oath. I saw ES Atieno Odhiambo mention some Luo soldiers in the Nairobi ranks of the Mau Mau but I lost the reference. I'll keep looking for it. Independence isn't liberation. It's the management of the colonialist state by Africans. The whites were not chased out. They are still here. They still own land, plantations, mines and major installations. They gave us CBC. They just got a military agreement in Mombasa which exempts soldiers from prosecution. Wazungu didn't leave. They retreated from visibility, but not from power. Until the late 1950s, the British had no intention of leaving. In their dream, Kenya was to be a multi-racial state. Shortly after, they aimed to leave in 1975. Then after, they decided to leave in 1963, but before they did that, they needed to ensure that Kenya was left in the hands of the sympathizers, your Lancaster people and the #IwenttoAlliance's. Whites remained in the independence government, protected by Sir Charles Njonjo of Kabeteshire. Bruce Mackenzie was Ministry of Agriculture. Humphrey Slade the Parliament speaker. Goeffrey Griffin, a former information officer, started Starehe. Carey Francis moved to Pangani High School. In 1972, UoN students were violently suppressed by the police after complaining about the architecture department being staffed by wazungu faculty who were failing the students. Guess who was in charge of Nairobi Provincial Police? James Myles Oswald, who had killed many Mau Mau fighters. The decision of the British to hand over the state to Africans was forced by the African resistance, of which Mau Mau was a major player. The British realized that it would be too expensive to keep suppressing rebellion, especially because the Mau Mau started to regroup in 1961. Plus the whole pan-African world's imagination was captured by the resistance. It was cheaper for the British to have African elites, your favorite Lancaster guys, rather than settlers, in charge. But overall, the British remained in charge from London. Forcing the British to hand over the colonial state doesn't mean we were liberated. It just means we got black settlers in charge of the state, instead of white ones. Reading helps even the best and the brightest.

#Cannes jury president Park Chan-wook says "I don’t think politics and art should be divided." " I think it’s a strange concept to think that they’re in conflict with each other. Just because a work of art has a political statement, it should not be considered an enemy of art. At the same time, just because a film is not making a political statement, that film should not be ignored. Even if we are to make a brilliant political statement, if it’s not expressed artfully enough, it would just be propaganda. So what I want to say is that art and politics are not concepts that are in conflict with each other, as long as they are artistically expressed, they are valuable."

Genevieve Nnaji joins the cast of BBC’s upcoming drama Wahala, a six-part thriller of Nikki May’s novel adapted by Theresa Ikoko. The series follows four Nigerian-British friends in London as past secrets and present choices collide, testing their friendship.

Morgan Freeman and Lori McCreary will executive produce a new feature from C.J. Obasi. Described as a story bridging African and Korean cultures, the project was unveiled at Cannes at a new African-Korean residency programme where Obasi will participate as an inaugural fellow.

‘East West Love’ (NollywoodWeek Review): A Sweet Romcom Stretched Too Thin in Both Directions Read our review of the Kenyan-Nigerian feature below. sinemafocus.com/east-west-love…

Amazon MGM Studios confirms Nia DaCosta to direct pilot and second episode of Sex Criminals. The acclaimed filmmaker will also executive produce.

We really need more movies like ‘My Father’s Shadow’. It was beautiful storytelling, somewhat complex characters, describing our universally shared experiences from a deeply personal angle. I hope filmmakers are able to get more funding for work like that.

I’m very excited that AMVCA took away public votes from certain sensitive categories— it did them a lot good. I’m of the opinion that film awards shouldn’t be determined by public votes— a jury should do that job. If possible all categories should be judged by a jury.

How many times do we want to tell you people that highest grossing movie doesn’t mean best movie??? 😏 #AMVCA12

I love everything about this look omg.

This is undoubtedly my best part of Twitter.

The Standing Ovation Is Not a Distribution Strategy indiewire.com/news/analysis/…

Docubox, the East African Documentary Film Fund, has opened its first-ever fiction feature development call, supporting Kenyan producers through the Creative Producers Lab with grants, mentorship and industry access. Read more: sinemafocus.com/docubox-fictio…

Last borns, showing up to lunch with you with no money in their account.

Is it becos you're handsome you think you can do anything you want ??

Kenya’s Brian Abajah and Nigeria’s Sunshine Rosman lead the Kenyan-Nigerian collaboration East West Love, the opening film at the 2026 NollywoodWeek Film Festival, which kicks off today, 6 May, in Paris. Read more below. sinemafocus.com/kenyan-nigeria…