The practice is against the law in Kenya, but child marriages still occur in distressingly high numbers. According to UNICEF, the country today is home to more than four million child brides.
The dynamic new film “Nawi,” which is set in the large rural county of Turkana, shines a light on the subject by telling the story of a 13-year-old student (Michelle Lemuya Ikeny) forced to marry an older man. The film is Kenya’s official selection for this year’s Best International Feature Oscar — a bold move by the East Africa nation and a sign of how seriously this issue is being combated within the region.
First-time actress Lumuya Ikeny was joined by the movie’s screenwriter Milcah Cherotich and two of four directors, Toby Schmutzler and Kevin Schmutzler, for a conversation about the film as part of TheWrap’s 2024-25 Screening Series.
In discussing her debut experience in the movie industry, Ikeny touched upon the importance of cinema as a tool to change hearts and minds.
“I was happy about the selection for the Oscars,” she shared. “I’m new to all of these things and now my very first movie gets to be selected in the Oscars. And I’m also happy that this topic is going to get the exposure it needs and is going to save lives.”
The idea of “Nawi” took shape seven years ago, as a collaboration between the Kenyan educational program Learning Lions and German production companies FilmCrew and Baobab Pictures. The shared mission was to produce an authentic Turkana-based story, shot on real locations and starring local talent.
Toby and Kevin Schmutzler were joined by Kenyan directors Vallentine Chelluget and Apuu Mourine, while the script by Cherotich was selected after a nationwide writing competition.
The film’s tactile, authentic vibe can be sensed from the village set – built for the film, it now houses local families – and in the natural, believable performances of the cast, especially by Ikeny and Joel Liwan, who play’s Nawi’s conflicted brother.
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During the conversation, the creative team discussed the complex, even-handed role that men play within the story, as well as the filming of a treacherous scene where a muddy torrent of water floods a dry riverbed and the movie’s emotional ending.
Co-director Kevin Schmutzler stressed the importance of the country’s Oscar submission. “We consider it as a very brave thing from Kenyan politics to put this movie out there and to give it to the world basically and to not block it,” he said.
“We have always known this movie has basically two audience groups. It must work internationally. And through international attention, we can raise donations, we can raise a lot of awareness and go to policymakers and create change on that level,” Kevin added. “But on the other hand, the movie needs to work within Kenya and it needs to work within the communities where the people are actually practicing these traditions.”
Watch the full “Nawi” discussion here.
