ABOUT THE FILM

Synopsis

When Kaleche, a young amnesiac, wakes up in the middle of the wilderness, she has no idea how she got there. She makes her way to Kati Kati, a nearby lodge, where she meets a motley crew of residents under the leadership of Thoma. As Kaleche strikes up a quick and intense friendship with him, she discovers that there’s a lot more to Thoma and the mysterious Kati Kati.

Awards and Special Mentions

The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) for the Discovery programme at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival. 

The jury remarked, “With a generous and poetic tone, not without a degree of anger at personal and political injustice, FIPRESCI is pleased to present the prize in the Discovery programme to an exciting and unique new voice in cinema, Mbithi Masya for his debut feature Kati Kati.”

New Voices/New Visions Award Special Mention at the 2017 Palm Springs International Festival.

Press mentions: Variety, Indie Wire, Screen Daily.

The Filmpris (Film Prize) at the 19th CinemAfrica Film Festival in Stockholm.

The festival jury remarked, "CinemAfricas filmpris 2017 går i år till den kenyanska filmen Kati Kati av Mbithi Masya. 
Mbithi Masya, känd från Kenyas mest innovativa indieband Just A Band och sina fantastiska musikvideor och modefilmer, har med Kati Kati gjort sin långfilmsdebut som regissör. 
Resultatet är en drömsk konstfilm med ett fantastiskt soundtrack: Filmen handlar om den surrealistiska semesterbyn Kati Kati, där alla är döda men tycks leva i en hedonistisk och existentiellt skräckfylld värld."

The Emerging Filmmaker Award at the 2017 Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival.

Emerging Filmmaker Competition Jury Statement: For creating a well crafted, well acted and thoroughly African version of a touching tale of life after death, the Jury awards the Emerging Filmmaker Prize to KATI KATI, directed by Mbithi Masya.

Voted Best Film (East Africa) award at the 2017 Africa Movie Viewers Choice Awards.

Best Feature Film, Best Cinematography, Best Special Effects, Best Editing, Best Original Score and Best Sound Design at the 2017 Kenya Film Commission's Kalasha Film and TV Awards.

Press

“Whatever reference points can be found in Masya’s work, the work itself still feels like an original, vibrant and exciting statement from a talented filmmaker who clearly has much more to say." - The Playlist

"Most of cinema’s best films are those that do rather than explain. These works are created by artists wielding airtight concepts insofar as attaining their goal of delivering a specific, emotion-fueled message. Kenyan creative Mbithi Masya‘s feature debut Kati Kati is a perfect example of what can be made when the right resources are supplied to the right people. "- The Film Stage (Spoilers Included)

"Masya is a force with which to be reckoned, as the film works well as a sci-fi film, as a story of the past and as a relationship drama. It just works. Musical and lyrical, the film is a discovery of the highest order and will hopefully receive theatrical distribution or it would be an absolute shame." - Scene Creek

"Kati Kati does not provide many answers, but they are not needed. It is the questions that the film raises about the nature of death, and what happens to our souls, that makes the film such a wonderful experience." - Cinema Axis 

"Falling within cinema’s under-utilized vein of magical realism, the film offers a layered meditation on the intersection of life, death, fate, and introspection, and how humans’ ability to move beyond guilt ultimately depends on arranging the pieces of their lives into honest reflections on themselves... Masya’s allegorically and visually rich piece is no less than remarkable for a debut director." - ECU Film Festival

(Google Translate) "The film is accurate and stimulates curiosity leveraging the rules of suspense. It has a clear plot in less than 80 minutes of indulgence sends a message and sweet redemption, light but effective. And the handful of actors, ritrovatosi acting on a slightly larger set of a theater stage, deserves credit for helping to create a simple feature with ambitions indie ."- Mase Domani (Italian)

"A genuinely surprising film from an unexpected source, Kati Kati is a film that draws on tradition (Nollywood, Senegalese counter-cinema, faith-based films) without falling into the stylistic or genre traps of any of those approaches. The plot is basic enough, but inventive in its execution."- Cinema Scope 

"An offbeat drama set somewhere in the afterlife. Winner of the FIPRESCI international film critics’ award this year at the Toronto International Film Festival, Kati Kati is well-suited to festival play and could eventually garner further attention on VOD."- The Hollywood Reporter

"Mbithi Masya’s work is a poetic portrayal of little triumphs amidst tragedy, the humor implicit in our foibles and the work it takes for us to let go." - Africa is a Country

Select Screenings

Find out more about the One Fine Day Films + Ginger Ink Films production here.