Kenyan psychological thriller Anam’s Wake is putting grief, African mourning traditions and independent filmmaking at the centre of a new conversation about locally produced cinema.
Written and directed by Likarion Wainaina, the film premiered at Prestige Cinema in Nairobi on July 31, 2026. It stars Marima Wanjiru as Anam, a professional mourner whose first solo ritual at a wealthy family’s home takes a disturbing turn.
The production is led by producer Wanjiru Njoroge, with Enos Olik as cinematographer.
A story born from grief
For Wainaina, the project began with something personal.
The filmmaker has said the story grew from his own experience of grief after attending several burials in early 2024. Those experiences made him think about how people deal with loss and what happens when painful emotions remain unaddressed.
“Anam’s Wake was born from my own journey through grief.”
The original idea also evolved considerably before becoming the film audiences are now seeing.
Wainaina told Sinema Focus that he initially developed two separate concepts, one centred on Anam and another involving Death as a character. He eventually brought the ideas together, creating a story in which grief and death confront each other.
The director also drew from different African traditions, including West African mythology, rather than presenting the film as a story limited to one Kenyan community.
How much of it was locally financed?
The question of financing remains important for independent Kenyan filmmakers.
Anam’s Wake has been presented as a locally produced Kenyan film, with a Kenyan creative team and cast. However, publicly available production information does not provide a verified percentage showing how much of the film's financing came specifically from Kenyan sources.
That figure is worth establishing directly with the production team.
It would also shed light on how independent filmmakers are putting together feature films without the backing of major international studios or streaming platforms.
The wider challenge for Kenyan filmmakers
The film arrives as Kenya's independent cinema continues to deal with questions around financing, distribution and audience access.
Film critic Gloria Nkatha recently described the Kenyan film ecosystem as having strong talent but weak systems, pointing to gaps in infrastructure and industry support. She has also highlighted financing, distribution and the changing streaming landscape as factors affecting the local film release calendar.
For Anam’s Wake, getting audiences through cinema doors has been another challenge.
The Story Desk, which handled the film's marketing campaign, said it spent six weeks promoting the project before its theatrical release.
That makes the film's journey about more than simply completing production.
It is also about finding an audience.
A test for independent cinema
Wainaina has said he wants to make more genre films and is already developing another project, although financing remains a hurdle for that next production.
For the team behind Anam’s Wake, the questions now extend beyond the film itself: what inspired the story, how was it financed, and what does its journey reveal about the realities facing Kenyan filmmakers in 2026?
Those answers could offer a useful look at what it takes to turn a locally conceived story into a feature film — and keep independent Kenyan cinema moving.
