USA and Kenya / 2011 / 12mins / Drama, Thriller / Swahili

Set against the backdrop of the start of the devastating post-election violence that took place in Kenya in 2007/2008 and has left tens of thousands of Kenyans homeless, traumatized or dead, Taharuki (Suspense) is the fictional account of a man and woman from opposing ethnic tribes who are working for an underground liberation movement to expose a child-trafficking cartel. When something goes wrong, they're forced to make tough choices in order to stay alive and complete their mission.

Ekwa Msangi

Ekwa Msangi (writer, director, producer) is a Tanzanian-American filmmaker who grew up in Kenya and is based in New York. Her initial career started in producing, and now focuses on writing and directing. Some of her short films include the award-winning comedy Soko Sonko (The Market King), recipient of the Ousmane Sembene Short Film Development award, with which she produced a laterr short film Farewell Meu Amor starring Tony Award nominee Sahr Ngauja, and actress Nana Mensah of the famed series An African City. She began producing the feature-length sequel, Farewell Amor, receiving a Jerome Foundation Grant, Tribeca All Access Fellowship, Cine Qua Non Lab Fellowship, IFP/No Borders, and Sundance Feature Film Development Fellowship. In 2019, she debuted the feature the Sundance Film Festival where it won the Sundance Institute Producer's Award. Ekwa has also written and directed several drama series for mainstream broadcasters in Kenya and MNET South Africa, including The Agency, MNET’s first-ever original hour-long Kenyan drama series. Ekwa was selected for the 2012 Focus Features’ Africa First Program and the 2016 Berlin Talent Campus. In the past, Ekwa has been adjunct faculty at Tisch School of the Arts, as well as a recurring mentor in Mira Nair’s East Africa based Maisha Screenwriting Labs. Currently, Ekwa is the resident educational instructor with the African Film Festival, Inc., and teaches Screenwriting at The New School and Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema, Brooklyn College. Ekwa’s first webseries, All My Friends Are Married launched to rave reviews, and she is in development on her first feature documentary about Tanzania’s first president, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, along with her award-winning podcast African Cinema NOW! One of Ekwa’s key goals as an artist is to transform our society’s images and relationships with African cultures, and to empower African filmmakers in telling their stories. Learn More