Likarion Wainaina

EARLY LIFE

Likarion Wainaina was born in Moscow, Russia, to Kenyan parents. At age four, he moved to Kenya with his family, which consisted of a single mother raising four children (one sister and two brothers), and was raised in Nairobi. He experienced his first film at age nine in a shack in the Kibera slum, watching a Hong Kong comedy martial arts film from the Drunken Master series starring Jackie Chan. Wainaina is a high school dropout with no formal training in filmmaking.

PERSONAL LIFE

Wainaina was raised by a single mother in a family of four children. He has described himself as energetic, open, bold, observant, enthusiastic, and exciting. Through filmmaking, he overcame shyness from his childhood and late teenage years, using stories to open himself up to the world. He lives and works in Nairobi, Kenya.

CAREER

Wainaina began his career in 2007 by joining the Phoenix Players theater group in Nairobi, where he acted and directed plays. He progressed from theater actor to key grip, gaffer, cinematographer, and director, working on documentaries, commercials, and television sitcoms. In 2013, he founded Kibanda Pictures. His interest in film grew after a minor role in the 2012 film Nairobi Half Life. He learned filmmaking through the internet, books, and trial and error, later drawing influences from directors like Ingmar Bergman, Yasujiro Ozu, and Akira Kurosawa. Notable works include the short film Between the Lines (2013), which he directed, cinematographed, wrote, produced, and edited; it was the first Kenyan film projected on an IMAX screen in Kenya and nominated for Best New Online Media Award at the 2015 AMVCA.

Wainaina has won numerous awards, including Special Mention Jury Award for Generations Kplus at the 2018 Berlin International Film Festival, Special Short Film screening at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, Best Director, Best Cinematographer, Best Film, and Judges Choice Award at the 2015 48 Hour Film Festival, Best Short Film at the 2016 Riverwood Academy Awards, Best Director of Photography at the 2015 Kalasha International Film Festival, Special Mention Jury Award at the 2018 Edinburgh International Film Festival, Golden Dhow for Best Feature Film at the 2018 Zanzibar International Film Festival, New Directors Competition nomination at the 2018 Seattle International Film Festival, Artistic Bravery Award at the 2018 Durban International Film Festival, Golden Slipper Award for Best Feature Film at the 2018 Zlin Film Festival, Youth Jury Award at the 2018 Minneapolis St. Paul Film Festival, and Michel Award nomination at the 2018 Hamburg Film Festival.