Kalasha Awards 2019 winners rewarded with cash
In a welcome departure from the past, the Kenya Film Commission (KFC) has forked out Sh1.75 million to award the winners of the 9th edition of Kalasha Awards 2019.
KFC, through its Chief Executive Officer, Timothy Owase, on Thursday hosted all the winners of Kalasha Awards 2019 for breakfast alongside invited members of the press.
DEVELOPING CONTENT
At the meeting, Owase said the board had decided to start awarding monetary prizes to the winners of the annual Kalasha Awards which celebrates top achievers in the Kenyan film industry.
He noted that the idea is not only to appreciate the local film players but also to create a competitive environment that will push creatives in the industry to work harder in developing content.
“We are breaking from the norm where in the last eight editions of Kalasha Awards all we have been doing is recognize different acts by only awarding accolades. As such, we at KFC have decided that with starting with this year’s editions all winners in the 34 categories will receive Sh50,0000 each,” Owase said.
“We want you guys to have a career that you can not only make a living out of but also properly appreciated,” he further said.
Owase said KFC will support the screening of Best Feature Film category Lost in Time across all the theatres in the country.
Lost in Time, produced by Andrew Odera, also had one of its cast George Mo emerging the Best Lead Actor in film.
Owase also appeared to take a jab at a few actors who were against KFC partnering with digital terrestrial and Satellite company StarTimes in whose platform was used for the voting of the Kalasha Awards nominees.
“StarTimes is a content buyer, that’s why we partnered with them. Some of you guys were not happy with using their platform for voting but it’s high time you get introduced to them because they are here to see what local content they can buy from you guys. So lets focus on the positivity,” he said.
Among the winners of who graced the event were George Mo (Best Lead Actor in Film – Lost in Time), Sarah Hassan (Best Lead Actress in Film – Plan B), Pascal Tokodi (Best Lead Actor in TV Drama – Selina) and Neomi Ng’ang’a (Best Supporting Film Actress – You Again).
Also present at the event was Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua.
The award ceremony was held at Safari Park, Nairobi two weeks ago.