Bozeman Magazine

On Thursday, October 22nd, at 7pm at the Emerson Center, the Doc Series continues with the Montana Premiere of the award-winning new film, Kikuyu Land. While investigating a local man’s civil petition against the British Crown and Kenya’s global tea industry, Nairobi journalist Bea Wangondu stumbles upon her own family’s concealed secrets, pushing her to peel back the layers of Kenya’s colonial legacy. Colonialism stripped Kikuyu communities of the family land central to their cultural identity, leaving many to labour on tea plantations under abusive conditions, on ancestral soil still owned by some of the world’s biggest corporations today. Challenging the powers that be is a dangerous David and Goliath struggle, and for the younger generations growing up on the plantations, avoiding a life of servitude is almost impossible. As echoes of the past refuse to stay buried, Bea goes deeper into a murky world of hidden evidence and untold wounds. Set against the beautifully captured richness of the landscape, Kikuyu Land is a poetic, stunningly cinematic dive into a complex history. Kikuyu Land world-premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and has gone on to screen at major festivals around the world garnering widespread critical acclaim. The film won the award for Best Documentary Feature at the recent edition of Telluride’s Mountainfilm Festival. “A visually arresting examination of land dispossession, family history and the lasting impact of colonial injustice…a profound and poignant meditation on land and its people.” Sinema Focus “Riveting…a bruising indictment of capitalist oppression that plays out like a twisty crime thriller.” Seattle International Film Festival “Brave in its unvarnished gaze…a defiant piece of work…an act of archaeological recovery; digging through years of erasure to exhume the bodies buried beneath Kenya’s tea industry…In a world bent on forgetting, this is no small achievement.” Afrocritik Doors open at 6:30pm. Tickets are available at the door or before the show online at www.bozemandocseries.org, where you can also buy Season Passes and 7-film punch cards, learn more about the series, and view trailers for upcoming films. The season will continue with screenings twice a month through April, 2027.