The film opens with Eric Wainaina’s haunting vocals and roaming shots of the expansive skies as a young Tamani rides in the back seat of her parents’ car. She has a brief exchange with a man in the opposite truck who is clad in a kanzu and an Arafat scarf wrapped around his head. This opening scene is a crossing of two lives that are linked in ways that will be later revealed in the film.
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This film starring Corrine Onyango and Ken Ambani was written and directed by Wanuri Kahiu and was released in 2009.That year, it received 12 nominations and won five awards at the Africa Movie Academy Awards.
From a Whisper, is a story that follows the lives of Tamani and Abu who both lost people they loved in the U.S Embassy bombings which happened simultaneously in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, on August 7th 1998. Set in Nairobi, we meet Tamani who grew up uncertain about her mother’s fate as she was told that she went missing after the bombing. Now a rebellious teenager, she is back in her home country with her father after spending the years following her mother’s disappearance in the United States.
Tamani uses art as a way of dealing with her grief while Abu is a policeman who has followed Tamani’s artistic journey as she leaves behind her sheets of canvas each time she runs way from police at the August 7th Memorial Park. This site is where the U.S embassy used to be located within the CBD, and hosts a slab honouring the names of over 200 people who lost their lives in the attack.
One day, Abu waits for her at the site and rather than charging her with vandalism, he offers to take her home. This sets in motion a friendship that will aid in both their journeys of healing and acceptance.
Home is where the heart is. Tamani’s heart is where her mother ran an art gallery that is now her space of solace. This spot is filled with pieces that center on a love heart, – a symbol that was earlier established in the narrative to hold a sentimental significance for young Tamani and her mother. She has also crafted a timeline that details the traces of her mother as she investigates where she could be following her disappearance after the bombing. Abu drops her here, where she sleeps, avoiding the house she and her father live in, as their relationship is strained at best.
A poignant tale about love and loss, From A Whisper, is a Kenyan film that breathes life into potential narratives surrounding a sad day in the history of our nation, ensuring that we do not forget the many lives that were forever changed as a result.
