Germany’s Hamburg Media School, the producer of Oscar-nominated Kenyan-German short film “Watu Wote”, has accused Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) Chief Executive Officer Ezekiel Mutua of copyright infringement.
The institution claims that the self-declared Kenyan ‘moral police’ screened the movie in the United States without seeking its consent.
“After a lot of people asking on social media and in public domain, we are forced to issue the following statement, related to the screening of Watu Wote on March 8th sponsored by Ezekiel Mutua and KFCB in Las Vegas,” the school tweeted using Watu Wote handle and attached a statement.
“As the owners of all copyrights for Watu Wote, we want to point out very clear(ly) that KFCB and Dr Mutua had no rights to so, this screening was an illegal act and a copyright infringement,” the statement reads in part.
The Media School said it holds all copyrights for the movie and the rights to show it in private or in public.
“For distribution in all American territories, Shorts International, an entity of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Oscars), hold the privileges.”
The school further accused Dr Mutua of taking undue credit of the film, adding that he didn’t attended the Oscars nor contributed to its production as he claims on social media.
“Contrary to these claims, Dr Mutua was not in attendance at the ceremony, and did not participate in the Oscars with us,” the school says.
“He never received an invitation and never was (he) asked to join us. This was an extraordinary privilege for our cast and crew members.”
Mutua is yet to respond to the allegations.
Watu Wote is a short film based on a true story about the events of December 21st, 2015, where Al-Shabaab militants ambushed a bus headed to Mandera from Nairobi.
They only come to Africa to…
They only come to Africa to take. Wolves in sheep skin… So bent on hyping and sensualizing the rare bad to make BIG BUCKS… tarnish and screw them Africans. Bring back all the money you’ve made off us!