SHIMONI
Genre
Fiction and Drama
Running time
97 minutes
Year
2022
Language
Swahili and English
Subtitle
English
Country
Kenya
Director
Angela Wanjiku Wamai
Bio
Producer
Wangechi Ngugi
Cast
Justin Mirichii, Sam Psenjen, Vivian Wambui, Muthoni Gathecha, Daniel Njoroge
Scriptwriter
Angela Wanjiku Wamai
After seven years in prison, 35-year-old Geoffrey (Justin Mirichii) is released into the care of a Catholic priests’ compound in Shimoni, a small and sleepy village in rural Kenya. As we shall discover, Geoffrey knows this place - all too well - as “the pit”. A revered English teacher before his time inside, he now does his farmyard chores, attends church services as required and maintains a distance from other residents. Not that he ever goes anywhere else; some unnamed fear prevents him from stepping outside the gate. Then a man with a distinctive white patch of hair appears, terrifying him so much that he wets himself. Weru (Daniel Njoroge) has haunted his dreams for decades. Now he can’t face him. Film editor Angela Wanjiku’s gripping directorial debut explores the ways in which memory and emotion seize control of the body, which in turn may speak when words fail.
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