Matatu madness, Gikomba feature on US blockbuster TV series
Nairobi’s matatu madness features heavily in a much-anticipated American TV series, Sense8, which has been released on internet streaming media, Netflix.
The series’ trailer shows an all too familiar scene for most Nairobians: A matatu hitting a saloon car from behind.
The matatus driver is Aml Ameen cast as Capheus, who is a compassionate matatu driver in Nairobi with a strong sense of justice and who is desperately trying to earn money to buy medicine for his mother.
The series, which is rated 8/10 on IMDb and 68 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes, was shot on the streets of Nairobi including Gikomba market.
Below is the synopsis:
Eight strangers around the globe find themselves connected — first by a violent vision, then by their shared ability to connect with one another’s thoughts and actions, and finally by the urgent need to find out what happened and why. Their need to know goes beyond simple curiosity — as they pursue answers, a mysterious organization hunts them down, intent on destroying them.
The intense thriller is the first foray into television (or, more accurately, Netflix) for renowned filmmakers Lana Wachowski and Andy Wachowski (“The Matrix Reloaded”), who created the series with J. Michael Straczynski (“Thor”).
The international cast includes veteran actors known to U.S. audiences, like Daryl Hannah (“Kill Bill”) and Naveen Andrews (“Lost”), and others well-known in their home countries, like German actor Max Riemelt and Doona Bae of South Korea.
In keeping with the global premise of the series, shooting takes place all over the world, including London, Reykjavik, Nairobi and Mumbai.