Plot Twist: Prayer for the Departed Won Best International Feature Film 🎬🏆

POV: you make a film about an incredibly difficult real-life story, and then that film goes on to win an international award. That is the latest chapter in the journey of Prayer for the Departed, which has taken home Best International Feature Film at the Nyasa International Film Awards.

The recognition matters because of the story sitting at the heart of the film. Inspired by the real-life JMM case, Prayer for the Departed raises painful questions about sexual violence, unsafe abortion, healthcare and institutional responsibility. These are subjects that can easily become statistics or headlines, but cinema has a unique ability to turn those subjects into human experiences.

That is one of the things film does exceptionally well- stop people from scrolling. A statistic can make you pause and a headline can make you angry, but a story can make you feel. Suddenly, an issue that seemed distant has characters, emotions and consequences that are much harder to ignore.

That is the territory Prayer for the Departed enters, and the Nyasa recognition gives that story another opportunity to reach people.

The film was also recognised in two individual categories. Lucarelli Onyango won Best Actor, while Festus Kiprotich won Best Cinematography, making it a particularly strong night for the production. You can explore Lucarelli's Best Actor win and Festus's award-winning cinematography in our other features.

One of the most exciting things about African cinema is the ability to tell stories that are deeply rooted in a specific community while raising questions that audiences everywhere can understand. Prayer for the Departed is firmly connected to a Kenyan reality, but its questions about protection, healthcare, justice and institutional responsibility are much bigger than one country.

So yes, celebrate the trophy, take the pictures and post the congratulations. But more importantly, keep the conversation moving.

Because Best International Feature Film may be the award, but the conversation behind the film is what makes the achievement matter.