Die Heilige/Africa Mon Amour (WWI Africa)

[Story]

Remembering that WWI was a defining event for the Golden Age...

Firm allowed to shoot Sh300m film on war

Story by NATION Correspondent
Publication Date: 8/12/2006

Isiolo county council has allowed a company to shoot a Sh300 million film at the picturesque Shaba Game Reserve.

The German drama series revolves around incidents that occurred during the First World War and will feature the war itself as both the Germans and the British scrambled for East Africa.

The film is aptly named Die Heilige on one the hand and Africa Mon Amour on the other.

"It is all about the scramble for Africa and we will have to choose the best title as the film progresses," said Blue Sky Film Corporation manager Bernard Gathogo. The corporation will produce the film.

According to Mr Gathogo, the Germans had initially chosen to shoot the film in Tanzania but later settled for Kenya "because of its many beautiful locations".

"Some features of the film will be shot in Nairobi, Thika, Nyahururu, Nyeri, Samburu, Lamu and Amboseli and Tsavo national parks," he said.

Yesterday, Isiolo county council clerk Ali Apidi said at a council meeting that the film production company had agreed to pay the council a Sh9 million fee.

"Blue Sky will pay African actors Sh1,000 and casuals Sh500 a day respectively. It will also hire local transporters at Sh5,000 for light vehicles and Sh8,000 for trucks per day," said Mr Gathogo.

"The drama series will mainly feature Caucasians and Asians because the First World War had very few Africans taking part in it," he said.

 

[Sefton]

This sounds interesting. There seems to be very little interest in "The Great War",which is a shame as most people are unaware of how those events helped to shape our world. I hope it gets a decent distribution in the U.S.

 

[Baggers]

Yes, it should be very interesting. The German commander, von Lettow-Vorbeck, led a very lively guerilla campaign against the British, led by Jan Smuts.

By coincidence, The African Queen was on TCM earlier this evening. That film's story involves trying to outwit the Germans. Also, a portion of Out of Africa takes place during the campaign. Then there was Wilber Smith's novel, Shout at the Devil.

Africa, from around 1890 until the end of World War 2, has always fascinated me. I'll be keeping an eye out for this production. I hope it gets a release here in the States.

Cheers!