For Our Land (2009)

Type - Short Documentary

Genre -         Biographical, Conservation, Environment, Human Rights

Director -         Wanuri Kahiu

Country - Kenya


For Our Land is the first non-fiction film review on our blog.  This short documentary elaborately walks us through the life of the late Professor Wangari Maathai vividly capturing the major epochs in her life.

We are taken through a narrative punctuated by interviews with Wangari herself and other people who were close to her at different points in her life.  The documentary starts at a point where Wangari grew up in her home town of Ihithe (Nyeri County) learning several lessons from her mother about their culture and then later developing her love for reading and pursuit of knowledge.  She is later picked for the famous Tom Mboya 'airlift’ programme that enabled her, along with 800 other students to travel to the United States of America for study.  It is worth noting that the former US president’s father, Barack Obama Senior, was also a beneficiary of this programme.



The story then shifts to her life as a university professor back home at the University of Nairobi where she strongly advocated for equal pay for both male and female lecturers.  Finally, the story culminates in the greatest adversary she probably faced in her life - the then Kenyan KANU government - with key incidences being the protest against the construction of a skyscraper at the city’s Uhuru Park and later during a movement she led to conserve the Karura Forest from destruction by contractors who wanted to convert a large portion of it to real estate.

If you are a Kenyan and do not know about Prof. Wangari Maathai then you do not know why you enjoy a large portion of the freedom you have today.  Watch this short documentary and read more about her.


Rating - 4/5 stars 


Review by Robert Mũnũku




Instagram - @nairobifilmgeek






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