A lot of parents can attest to the fact that finding the time to do the utterly engaging Competence-Based Curriculum homework while putting in the office hours needed to pay for the said schooling is somewhat a hard balancing act, especially in the city. While the Christmas Love premiered just in time for the Christmas of 2021, the film is a timeless piece of art that resonates with anyone who has had a hard time balancing family time and work.

The film explores this dynamic with Abel Mutua and Neema Kawa, a rising nine-year-old screen star, playing the family dynamic. Abel plays the role of widower and single father perfectly with Neema—the daughter who is always looking out for her father’s face in all parent-teacher meetings and talent showcases. Grace Ekirapa plays the recently departed child’s mother, while life coach and pastor Robert Burale is the identifiable kind, but the taxing boss. The film is Peter Kawa’s brainchild, a passion project that he hopes speaks to Kenyans and all humans in general.

The making

“I conceptualised Christmas Love in 2012. I wanted to tell a story about the struggle that most people go through when trying to be the best performer at work and a good parent at home. A few years later, I became a father to a beautiful girl and the balance between being a dad and working actor, producer and director was and is still a hard juggle. At last, I shot the film last year, with an amazing cast and crew in three shoot days, and edited the film in two months. We wanted a great film and spared no resource in the making of the film,” the film director Peter Kawa shares with Spice.

While the film was a Spearhead Entertainment Production, Kawa shares that the project could not have been possible without all the partnerships and visionaries who chipped into the project through their time, expertise, money and other varying resources. Lagraine Creatives offered their expertise in scriptwriting with Edijoe Mwaniki, the head scriptwriter at the outfit coming on board to script the film at no charges.

Edijoe is a renowned scriptwriter whose films have won numerous awards. He has written films such as Njamba, Lost, Witness, Lost in Time, and Medicine Man among many others. Filmlab Kenya, Miale Productions, Dennis Musembi via Emjay Media, Oribi Expeditions, Denri Africa and 2 Blo Productions were all integral parts that helped the film come to life. TikTok sensation and actor Azziad Nasenya and Celestine Gichuhi also loaned the project money, as they wholly bought into the vision of the film. Kawa also doubles up as an able talent manager with one of his main talents being Azziad. But preproduction work, shooting the film and editing was just one part of the equation. Showcasing the film and distributing it was the other much harder part of the equation.

The film premiered at Anga Cinemax Diamond Plaza in Nairobi a week before Christmas, with free playtime being given to children who brought their parents to the cinema. The film was also made available online for those people who could not make it to the premiere or the cinema run that followed. The film is still available online on My Movies Africa, a video streaming service that has a great roster of African films such as Medicine Man, and Disconnect.

Leveraging internet

With just Sh250, one can pay for a link to the movie and watch the film as many times as they wish. One can also visit www. Christmas love.co.ke, where there is an option for paying for the film either via card or mobile money. More than 50,000 minutes of the film have been streamed so far, with more than 3,500 people paying for unique links. This is a testament to just how riveting and impactful the film is. This aspect has also shown how filmmakers are leveraging the wide internet connectivity in Kenya and across the globe to sell their products to a wide range of consumers.

As to what the take-home from the film is, Kawa shares that he hopes to start conversations around parenting and the art of balancing work and family, which looks different for different families and from diverse perspectives.

“I hope people get the message of prioritising family over everything else. After all, is said and done, family, and your presence in it, should take precedence. I may not have all the answers as I am still a young father, but I hope this film gets people talking about what family means to them and what family-work balance looks like to them,” Kawa says in conclusion.