Movie was directed by Katja Benrath and told through actress Adelyne Wairimu

Photo: Courtesy

A tear-jerking drama that pays homage to a teacher who died after he was shot by Al Shabaab militants has qualified for the prestigious Oscar awards.

The film depicting the solidarity that was displayed by Muslims and Christians riding in a bus has already won awards at more than 40 prestigious film festivals around the world. The Muslims shielded the Christians during an Al Shabaab attack on the bus in Mandera.

Aptly titled Watu Wote (all of us), the film is among the final list of five nominees to be announced with all the other Oscar nominees on January 23.

The 90th Oscars will be held on March 4.

A screening committee drawn from the Short Films and Feature Animation Branch members winnowed a record field of 165 entries down to 10 semi-finalists.

The 22-minute film directed by Katja Benrath is told through the eyes of actress Adelyne Wairimu, who played the role of one of the Christian passengers.

Watu Wote qualified for the Oscars as Best Short Film 2018. It has also won the Gold Student Academy Award, with Ms Benrath from Hamburg Media School being the only female director on the Live Action Short Film shortlist.

The film, shot in Nairobi, Mwingi and Magadi, is based on events that took place on December 21, 2015.

The film portrays Abdiwali Farrah, a teacher who was posthumously honoured for his act of courage along with others in the bus who refused to reveal the identity of the Christians.

MUSLIM WOMEN

The film by three German students also shows how Muslim women covered Christian women in hijabs.

Watu Wote is mostly a dialogue-free film about the passengers' gut-wrenching ordeal that made headlines across the world. 

It is dedicated to Farrah, who died six weeks after the assault.

Meanwhile, Mombasa is the biggest conduit through which tonnes of poached ivory transits to Asian and other markets that service a high demand for the trophy whose value is the same as gold.

This fact is documented in a new film, The Last Animal, directed by American war photojournalist Kate Brooks.

It was aired during the Kenyan premier at Karura Forest on Saturday evening.

The film, done over four years and including the use of undercover cameras, reveals that poaching is sustained by both illegal and surprisingly legal systems.

On one occasion, a Ugandan military helicopter is spotted flying low over the Garamba Forest and shooting elephants for their ivory.