Serah Mwihaki: Screen actress

By Mwangi Muiruri

Background

I was born in Nairobi and schooled at Madaraka Primary in Thika before joining Alliance Girls’ School in 1992.

In the search for an identity, I engaged in various activities including enrolling for accounting and computer courses, which I soon abandoned. I also worked as a travel and tour operator and an agrovet attendant. But these were all boring. I knew my calling was in literature and performing arts.

How did you break ground?

Serah Mwihaki: Screen actress

In 2000, I enrolled in Media Network College in Nairobi where I studied Film and Television production for two years.

I worked for GTV in Tanzania on an internship programme and later featured in the film Dangerous Affair, scripted by Njeri Karago. I starred as Rose. I also did social documentaries that were funded by a Belgium organisation. Among these were the series, Devastation of HIV/Aids and Bomb Blast Orphans. I also featured in The Constant Gardener before I moved to Baraka Films as a production coordinator.

It is here that I featured in the Money or the Cross, Pumzika and Wingu la Moto.

I also served in the sales department of Kwani Publication before I became a freelance producer specialising in fiction.

What was your defining moment?

Towards the end of 2007, Mnet rolled out a competition for producers. Through my Urbane Diaspora Productions, I produced Changes and it won.

I am currently working on a TV series, Henry Wood, which is about a lawyer specialising in peculiar cases.

Also, in 1998, a day after the American Embassy in Nairobi was bombed, my younger sister died on her way to hospital. She was my best friend. I am yet to get over it. Her birthday, April 22, is my worst day and August 8, the day she died is my nightmare. It’s a story that has etched myself in my psyche.

My highest moment is the day Mnet picked my production as the best among the hundreds that had been submitted. The other is the day I got engaged to the man I am currently dating.

What spurs you on?

Having a story to tell is my drive. I like great ideas and I want to impart them constructively to audiences. I aspire to win an Oscar for Kenya and leave an immortal legacy.

What challenges do you face?

Funding is the hardest bit. Selling the production is another. Distribution of local pieces is limited to within the City centre and we are not making any headway at the global front. Sourcing for partners in production is another uphill task as is accessing credit from say Women Enterprise Development Fund and from financial institutions.

Also, there has been no definable Government support for the arts.

Your parting shot?

Follow your dream, even if it takes a lifetime. Remember, some get it easy while others do not. If you find a shortcut, follow it as long as you are sure there is no ditch ahead and no one will get hurt. Remember, you have only one life. If you lose it recklessly it is gone forever. Artists are not exempted from this reality.