27 January 2020
18 Hours (2017)
At the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCAs) 2018, Njue Kevin’s debut feature film 18 Hours made history by not only getting nominated in four categories but winning three of them – Best Movie East Africa, Best Picture Editor and the highly-coveted Best Overall Movie. It was a big feat for Kenya, and for Njue, especially on a platform like the AMVCAs that has always been dominated by Nollywood and one that has never witnessed a Kenyan film nominated in the Best Overall Movie category.
Released in 2017, and inspired by true events, 18 Hours follows two rookie paramedics – played by Brian Ogola (Lusala, Ma-Empress) and Nick Ndeda (News Just In, Shuga) – racing against time to save the life of a road accident victim, even after they are denied admission in several hospitals in Nairobi.
Njue, who appeared in Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2019 needs no introduction. He won his first award in 2014 for his first film Sticking Ribbons, which he wrote and produced while he was still a student at Kenyatta University. Sticking Ribbons won Best East African Talent at the 2014 Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF), an achievement that opened up Njue for more great things. Like directing his first short Intellectual Scum, which screened at various film festivals across the world and is also a Kalasha 2015 nominee for Best Feature by a student.
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