Kenya’s first series on Netflix premiered on the pay platform on Friday July 15, 2022.
The series titled ‘Country Queen’ is Netflix’s first Kenyan licensed branded series.
Country Queen family drama is set in contemporary Kenya and tells the story of ordinary Kenyans who are opposing a corporate entity threatening to destroy their homes and lives.
The series pays attention to exploitation and land grabbing, and how they adversely affect the lives and relationships of the main characters, their families and communities at large.
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It features a mix of English and Swahili while exploring varied themes including tradition, love, betrayal, relationships, and leadership, culture, capitalism and rural-urban conflict.
The highly anticipated series wholy shot in Kenya, however, spotlights the overrunning theme of pursuit of ambition while navigating loyalty to tradition and cultural history.
Netflix says writers for the Country Queen engaged in in-depth research on land issues, land grabbing, Kenyan mining practices as well as underage miners in Kenya and the region.
The series’ Season One features a high-profile cast led by Akisa Mutunga, played by Melissa Kiplagat, supported by Max Sibala (Blessing Lung’aho) and his wife Vivienne Sibala (Nini Wacera).
Country Queen narrative was developed by Good Karma Fiction alongside 10 upcoming Kenyan writers and filmmakers in the significant project financed by the DW Akademie.
Good Karma Fiction is a Berlin-based film production firms headed by Peter Obrist, Waltraud Ehrhardt and Ravi Karmalker, who are the series executive producers and showrunners.
The storyline revolves around a David vs Goliath battle that pits ordinary Kenyan citizens against a large corporate power that threatens to destroy their homes and livelihoods.
The Kenyan series also pays attention to the stories and lives of the largely ignored rural folk.
Country Queen’s Season One was also co-funded by the German-French cultural channel Arte/ZDF, German Government/DW Akademie, a private investor as well as Netflix.
TW: #CountryQueen is a fictional series that tackles real-world issues such as child labour. Viewers may find this distressing. ???????? pic.twitter.com/rgOKYgXwoq
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