Conversations around Kenya’s creative industry often revolve around Nairobi, streaming platforms and celebrity culture. Now, a quieter but potentially transformative movement is emerging from the counties.
This week, the inaugural Embu International Film and Creative Arts Festival (EMBU IFCA FEST) officially launched at the KICC with a bold message: African stories deserve global platforms, and the future of storytelling may depend on unlikely collaborations between creatives, corporations and local communities.
Led by Festival Director Ashley Murugi, the launch brought together filmmakers, educators, government leaders and private sector players, including the Kenya Tea Development Agency and KETEPA, a partnership that instantly shifted the conversation from traditional sponsorship to how business institutions can actively shape and sustain Kenya’s creative future.
The industry has largely depended on telecom companies, betting firms and alcohol brands for funding and visibility.
But EMBU IFCA FEST is introducing a different model — one where industries like agriculture see storytelling not as charity, but as cultural investment and strategic collaboration.
KTDA National Chairman Enos Njeru described the partnership as a meeting point between commerce, identity and culture. “Our partnership unlocks collaboration, innovation and storytelling,” he said.
“It expands brand visibility through authentic creative storytelling, opens new markets by connecting tea products with younger digital audiences, creates income opportunities for creatives while promoting Kenyan heritage, and positions agriculture as a vibrant part of modern culture and media.”
The partnership signals a growing realisation that creatives are no longer just entertainers, they are cultural architects capable of shaping public perception, preserving heritage and influencing younger generations.
For Ashley Murugi, whose acting career once made her a familiar face on the popular Kenyan TV drama Tahidi High, storytelling has always carried social power beyond entertainment.
“When we tell honest Kenyan stories on screen we do not just reflect society. We change it,” she said. That philosophy now sits at the centre of the festival’s mission.
Beyond screenings and awards, the festival plans to roll out a free School Outreach Programme across Embu County in May and June, using cinema and guided discussions to address drug abuse, early marriage and creative career opportunities among students.
Creative opportunities in Kenya have remained heavily centralised in Nairobi, forcing many county-based filmmakers, actors and artists to relocate to the capital in search of training, equipment, funding and exposure.
According to Murugi, that imbalance is exactly what inspired the formation of EMBU IFCA FEST.
“I saw a clear gap in Embu where talented young people with powerful stories drawn from our tea-growing communities, family struggles, and everyday life, but no local platform to develop or share them,” she explained.
“Everything (was) funneled to Nairobi from funding, training, screenings to networks leaving county creatives feeling invisible.”
That invisibility is something many creatives outside the capital understand too well.
While Nairobi remains Kenya’s entertainment headquarters, county-based filmmakers often struggle with limited access to professional cameras, lighting equipment, post-production facilities and experienced crews.
Murugi admits those technical limitations remain one of the industry’s biggest challenges outside the city.
“The biggest limitations are still real,” she said. “Professional cameras, lighting and sound equipment are concentrated in Nairobi, skilled crew often has to travel up, adding huge costs and logistics, and there are almost no local post-production facilities.”
Yet rather than waiting for perfect infrastructure, EMBU IFCA FEST has chosen improvisation and community innovation.
Local halls are being converted into film sets. Young creatives are being trained through workshops. Mobile filmmaking tools and accessible digital editing platforms are increasingly replacing expensive traditional setups.
Strategic collaborations with institutions like the Kenya Film Commission and the Lenny Kivuti Innovation Centre are also helping bridge critical gaps.
The result is an emerging county-based creative ecosystem rooted in local identity rather than imported urban aesthetics.
According to Murugi, being based in Embu fundamentally changes the stories being told. “Our stories come straight from the tea fields, misty highlands and tight-knit family life here,” she said.
“Narratives about generational sacrifice, the quiet strength of smallholder farmers, the tension between tradition and modern dreams, and social issues like drug abuse and early marriage.”
That authenticity may ultimately become the festival’s strongest export.
The seven-day festival, scheduled for July 26 to August 2, 2026 at the Lenny Kivuti Innovation Centre, is expected to become the launchpad for the wider Africa International Film and Creative Arts Festival (AIFCAF) network across the continent.
