The Nest Collective is a Kenyan artist collective. They are best known for their work in film and television, including the film '' Stories of Our Lives''‘Stories of Our Lives’ Sheds Light on Kenya’s Gay Community
'' Variety'', September 5, 2014. and the web series '' Tuko Macho'',"Kenya's hit web series where viewers vote for vigilante justice"

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

, September 5, 2016. and are also involved in fashion, visual arts and music projects. The collective first became widely known in 2014 when ''Stories of Our Lives'', an anthology of five short films dramatizing true stories of

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

life in Kenya, premiered at the

2014 Toronto International Film Festival The 39th annual Toronto International Film Festival, the 39th event in the Toronto International Film Festival series, was held in Canada from 4–14 September 2014. David Dobkin (director), David Dobkin's film ''The Judge (2014 film), The Judg ...

. The film originally ran without individual credits due to the collective's concerns about the film's reception in Kenya, where homosexuality is illegal. Following the premiere, Nest Collective members Jim Chuchu, George Gachara and Njoki Ngumi opted to reveal their names at the screening and in an interview with Toronto's LGBT newspaper ''

Xtra! ''Xtra Magazine'' (formerly ''DailyXtra'' and ''Xtra!'') is an LGBTQ-focused digital publication and former print newspaper published by Pink Triangle Press in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The publication is a continuation of the company's former p ...

''. The film was rejected for distribution and screening in Kenya by the

Kenya Film Classification Board The Kenya Film Classification Board (abbreviated as KFCB) is a state corporation that operates under the Government of Kenya whose mandate is to "regulate the creation, broadcasting, possession, distribution and exhibition of films by rating the ...

, on the grounds that the film "promotes homosexuality, which is contrary to national norms and values" of Kenya. Gachara, as executive producer of the film, was subsequently arrested on charges of violating the country's Films and Stage Plays Act by purportedly shooting the film without a license from the Kenyan Department of Film Services. The charges against Gachara were dropped by March 2015, although the film itself has remained banned in Kenya. Other members of the collective include Dr. Akati Khasiani, Njeri Gitungo, Kendi Kamwambia, Sunny Dolat, Noel Kasyoka, Mars, Olivia Ambani, Hope Bii and Wakiuru Njuguna. In 2017 the collective published the book ''Not African Enough'', an anthology of essays and photography about African fashion, and released the

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...

film project ''Let This Be a Warning''."MOVIE REVIEW: Let this be a warning!"
''

Daily Nation The ''Daily Nation'' is a Kenyan newspaper. It was founded in 1958 and is published in Nairobi. History The ''Daily Nation'' was started in the year 1958 as a Swahili weekly called ''Taifa'' by the Englishman Charles Hayes. It was bought in 1 ...

'', August 5, 2017.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nest Collective, The Arts organisations based in Kenya African artist groups and collectives Organisations based in Nairobi Film collectives