Supa Modo, an acclaimed Kenyan film starring a 10 year old potential counterpart to Lupita Nyong’o, was screened before a receptive audience in New York. Director Likarion Wainaina’s 74-minute feature made its eastern United States debut at the New York International Children’s Film Festival.
Following the showing of the film, Mr Wainaina revealed that he had collapsed from exhaustion on the set of Supa Modo while shooting its climactic scene; “I forget to eat and sleep and don’t treat my body right. I had to have a paramedic with me the whole day, and I was carried around by three people.”
The filming had to go on despite his condition, Mr Wainaina explained, because the cliff-side location was available for only that particular day.
Some of the young actors in the film also became physically distressed as they watched the concluding scene take shape. Kids were fainting on the set because the scene was so emotional.”