KENYA AMONG BEST WORLD CLASS FILM DESTINATIONS IN AFRICA Kenya boasts as one of the best filming destinations in Africa, the only other two that are internationally recognised are Egypt and South Africa. According to the Kenya Tourism Board (KTB),Kenya has always been a popular location for film production. Hollywood has a long standing affair with Kenya that dates back to the 1930’s. Many classic adventure films were shot on location in Kenya, including The Snows of Kilimanjaro starring Gregory Peck, King Solomon’s Mines with Stewart Granger among others. Hollywood’s greatest tribute to Kenya came with 1985’s Out of Africa. Adapted from Karen Blixen’s classic book, the film told the story of her life in colonial Kenya, with Meryl Streep in the lead role. Jim Shamoon a Kenyan international film producer with over 20 years of experience told CNC in an exclusive interview that in Kenya a small script can be made to look big by the type of scenes we have. Shamoon says that just ten minutes away from the city it is possible to get panoramic scenery that is rare in Africa. Great award winning movies have been shot with different parts of Kenya. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) JIM SHAMOON - Kenyan International Film Producer So many movies shot here have won oscars, there are foreign language film, there are other films, out of Africa won many oscars, Constant gardener won one. The 2005 box-office hit The Constant Gardener was also filmed on location in a small town located on the southeastern coast of Lake Turkana. Kenya is a great destination for television wildlife productions. Many award winning wildlife series have been shot on location in Kenya by BBC Natural History, Discovery, Survival and other production houses. The Maasai Mara continues to be the backdrop for BBC’s popular Big Cat Diary, following the lives of the reserves predators. Kenya's film producers and actors feel that Kenya is a unique and all in one film destination. They say the colour and the light in Kenya lends a quality to the film which again is very distinctive from anything shot in South or in North Africa. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) JIM SHAMOON - Kenyan International Film Producer We have every geographical location, we have deserts, we have rain forests, we have savannah, we have animals, we have cities and again no other Country in Africa can say this, all of Africa in one Country. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) IAN MBUGUA - Kenyan Local Actor and Singer Tell me somewhere where you have more beautiful scenery, tell me where you have desert, we have got wild life. I mean Kenya is ideal, it really is ideal, but we don't sell ourselves properly. According to Jim Shamoon Kenya does not only boast land and beautiful sceneries, it also has vast culture as there are many tribes that can be found here. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) JIM SHAMOON - Kenyan International Film Producer A slogan that we are trying to promote in Kenya at the moment is that all of Africa can be found here in Kenya. We have all the tribal groups we have the Bantus, we have the Nilotes, we have the Amharics, we have the Arabs, we have every single tribal group that you find in Africa. No other Country has this. Kenya's diverse natural resources have served as film locations many times. Some of the most popular ones include Lamu, Hell's gate, Lake Turkana, Lake Baringo, Lake Bogoria, Mount Kenya and many others. Maasai Mara, Kenya's world famous game reserve, was recently named one of the new Seventh Wonders of the World in a poll conducted in famous TV shows in America.

• published: 15 Sep 2014
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