Black Panther, a classic American blockbuster movie took the world by storm in 2018 and Kenya took all the glory for having an Oscar award-winning Kenyan and Hollywood star Lupita Nyong’o featured.
This was undoubtedly a riveting moment and still is, having a Kenyan take up a super character in the movie.
Unknown to many though is that behind the glitz and glamour of the superhero film, a Kenyan creative, Grace Muema was behind the special effects that dazzled many while watching the film.
In an interview with NTV on Sunday, Muema the founder of East Africa’s first special effects product line said Black Panther is so far, her biggest project.
However, with the toil and excellence that comes with a film of such magnitude, she intimated that she was never paid for it.
But, she added, she is fine with this because it gave her “exposure and opened up other business opportunities for her”.
“We were not paid, but for me, it was fine because it was exposure for me as it opened other opportunities,” she opined.
She has been working in different productions, in the country and beyond where her creativity in special effects has been outstanding.
“I’ve done two movies in Kenya, Disconnect and 40 Sticks which is yet to be released, I’ve done some series, there is Mgema Akisifiwa, I did the pilot for Maria and a couple of ads,” she went on.
Her work was also recognized in the ’48 Hours Film Project’ sometime back where creatives from across the globe showcased their skills within 48 hours.
Muema said that her journey in this industry was inspired by the need to create something of her own rather than being in employment in the corporate world.
At one time while watching TV series Grey’s Anatomy, she was taken aback by the level of excellence in the production and decided to enrol for training at a South African School to hone her skills in 2013.
Since then, she has worked on various projects and even trained other people to help her.
