A Guide To Dining Out In Nairobi

001

Introduction

Client

Timeline

2 months

Year

2019

Behind-the-Scenes Photography for an Award-Winning Kenyan Short Film

A Guide to Dining Out in Nairobi is a Kenyan short film built on a deceptively simple premise: a security guard receives an unexpected $10 tip from his wealthy boss, and the film asks what that small act of generosity makes possible in the city of Nairobi. It is a story about class, dignity, aspiration, and the texture of everyday life in Kenya — told with wit and warmth, and made on the kind of resourceful independent budget that demands creativity at every step. Kreative Vault was brought in to produce the behind-the-scenes coverage for the production — documenting the creative process, the collaboration between cast and crew, and the human moments that happen between takes and behind the camera. Our brief was not to capture the film itself, but to capture the making of it: the decisions, the energy, the context that would give the world a window into how a story like this gets built.

Live project

001

Introduction

Client

A Guide To Dining Out In Nairobi

Timeline

2 months

Year

2019

Behind-the-Scenes Photography for an Award-Winning Kenyan Short Film

A Guide to Dining Out in Nairobi is a Kenyan short film built on a deceptively simple premise: a security guard receives an unexpected $10 tip from his wealthy boss, and the film asks what that small act of generosity makes possible in the city of Nairobi. It is a story about class, dignity, aspiration, and the texture of everyday life in Kenya — told with wit and warmth, and made on the kind of resourceful independent budget that demands creativity at every step. Kreative Vault was brought in to produce the behind-the-scenes coverage for the production — documenting the creative process, the collaboration between cast and crew, and the human moments that happen between takes and behind the camera. Our brief was not to capture the film itself, but to capture the making of it: the decisions, the energy, the context that would give the world a window into how a story like this gets built.

Live project

002

Challenges

Telling the Story Behind the Story on a Lean Independent Production

Independent film productions present a specific kind of photography challenge. The budgets are tight, the crews are small, the days are long, and everyone on set is stretched. There is no dedicated space for a photographer to work without getting in the way of the production itself. Every shot has to be earned without costing the director a take or the crew a minute. At the same time, behind-the-scenes photography for an independent film carries a weight that commercial production coverage does not. These images are often the primary visual evidence that a film was made at all — the asset that travels to festival submissions, that gets used in press kits, that represents the project to distributors and programmers who will never visit a set. The images had to do justice to the story and the people making it: to capture the human connection driving each frame, the collaborative spirit of a team working with purpose, and the distinctly Nairobi texture of a film that was unambiguously, proudly Kenyan.

002

Challenges

Telling the Story Behind the Story on a Lean Independent Production

Independent film productions present a specific kind of photography challenge. The budgets are tight, the crews are small, the days are long, and everyone on set is stretched. There is no dedicated space for a photographer to work without getting in the way of the production itself. Every shot has to be earned without costing the director a take or the crew a minute. At the same time, behind-the-scenes photography for an independent film carries a weight that commercial production coverage does not. These images are often the primary visual evidence that a film was made at all — the asset that travels to festival submissions, that gets used in press kits, that represents the project to distributors and programmers who will never visit a set. The images had to do justice to the story and the people making it: to capture the human connection driving each frame, the collaborative spirit of a team working with purpose, and the distinctly Nairobi texture of a film that was unambiguously, proudly Kenyan.

003

Results

Coverage That Travelled to Nine International Film Festivals

We approached the production as a documentary project, moving through the set quietly and building trust with cast and crew over the course of the shoot. The behind-the-scenes images captured everything from quiet moments of director-actor collaboration to the energy of the broader crew working in Nairobi locations that gave the film its specific sense of place. The film went on to achieve exceptional international recognition, validating the quality of the story and the craft of everyone involved.

It won;

🏆 Audience Award & Jury Award – Best Fiction Short – San Jose International Short Film Festival
🏆 Winner – Best Comedy – Dam Short Film Festival
🏆 Winner – Best Comedy – Sapporo International Short Film Festival
🎬 Official Selection – The Norwegian Short Film Festival (Kortfilmfestivalen
🎬 Official Selection – Pan African Film & Arts Festival
🎬 Official Selection – Phoenix Film Festival
🎬 Official Selection – Myrtle Beach International Film Festival
🎬 Official Selection – Indie Street Film Festival
🎬 Official Selection – Durban International Film Festival

The behind-the-scenes photography Kreative Vault produced travelled alongside the film through that festival circuit giving audiences, programmers, and press a direct line into the making of one of Kenya's most internationally celebrated short films of its era. It stands as evidence that African stories, told with skill and authenticity, resonate on the world stage and that the photography supporting those stories matters.

003

Results

Coverage That Travelled to Nine International Film Festivals

We approached the production as a documentary project, moving through the set quietly and building trust with cast and crew over the course of the shoot. The behind-the-scenes images captured everything from quiet moments of director-actor collaboration to the energy of the broader crew working in Nairobi locations that gave the film its specific sense of place. The film went on to achieve exceptional international recognition, validating the quality of the story and the craft of everyone involved.

It won;

🏆 Audience Award & Jury Award – Best Fiction Short – San Jose International Short Film Festival
🏆 Winner – Best Comedy – Dam Short Film Festival
🏆 Winner – Best Comedy – Sapporo International Short Film Festival
🎬 Official Selection – The Norwegian Short Film Festival (Kortfilmfestivalen
🎬 Official Selection – Pan African Film & Arts Festival
🎬 Official Selection – Phoenix Film Festival
🎬 Official Selection – Myrtle Beach International Film Festival
🎬 Official Selection – Indie Street Film Festival
🎬 Official Selection – Durban International Film Festival

The behind-the-scenes photography Kreative Vault produced travelled alongside the film through that festival circuit giving audiences, programmers, and press a direct line into the making of one of Kenya's most internationally celebrated short films of its era. It stands as evidence that African stories, told with skill and authenticity, resonate on the world stage and that the photography supporting those stories matters.

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