VEVE, new Kenyan Action Thriller FILM from the Producers of NAIROBI HALF LIFE

Veve: another Kenyan action thriller on the way/// Posted on May 16, 2013/// Story By Margaretta wa Gacheru// Veve is the fourth film project of the production team that made Nairobi Half Life, Soul Boy, and Something Necessary. One Fine Day Film (OFDF) and Ginger Ink (GI) are still keen on developing a thriving film industry in Kenya, including local casts and crews that can measure up to international standards. “And the best way to do that is by making more films while training Kenyan filmmakers in the process,” said Sirika Hemi Lakhani, the managing director of OFDF, the non-profit company started by award-winning German filmmaker, Tom Tryker, and his wife, Marie. It is a film that is already generating quite a buzz since many believe that the screenplay by Natasha Likimani has the potential to become as big a hit as Nairobi Half Life, even bigger. “Veve, (which is a sheng term for miraa), has all the ingredients for success,” said Rukenya Njiru, one of the production unit trainees on the set. “It’s an action thriller with just enough romance and political intrigue thrown in to make it even spicier and juicier than any of the previous (OFDF/GI) films.” What adds to the appeal of Veve, which is still in the early stages of production, are the many fresh new faces that will be seen on screen when it come out next year, including Emo Rugene, Adam Peeves, and Victor Munyua, all of whom have leading roles in the film yet come from various backgrounds. Rugene is a fashion designer and model, Peeves just completed his studies at Hillcrest school, and Munyua is a law student at the University of Nairobi. Yet their youth is balanced by the experience of seasoned film, TV, and Internet actors like Conrad Makeni, Lizz Njagah, and Gerald Langiri. At the core of Veve is one of Kenya’s biggest cash crop and the question of who will control its trade. At the outset of the film, it is the local member of Parliament, Amos Munene (Lowry Odhiambo), who has the upper hand, but there are other interested parties who are threatening the MP’s monopoly control on the trade. There is a reckless young white Kenyan called Cliff, a big-money Somali trader, and the biggest miraa farmer in Meru who wants a more equitable return on the sale of his crop. When the MP feels these competing forces closing in on him, he makes a malicious decision which trigger a stunning series of events that I will not give away. Suffice it to say that the MP has enemies, including Kenzo (Emo Rugene), who has a personal grudge against Munene that leads him to get his revenge in ways I, again, will not reveal. Promising to be another award-winner for One Fine Day Film and Ginger Ink, Veve is definitely a Kenyan film to look forward to. margacheru@gmail.com