Call Me Queen to premiere at NBO Film Festival

Call Me Queen, an international feature shot in Kenya with a largely local cast and crew, will hold its African red-carpet premiere on 17 October 2026 at the NBO Film Festival in Nairobi, according to distributor announcements by Crimson Multimedia and YAKWETU carried by KBC and Expression Africa. The film will then open in cinemas across Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda from 30 October 2026.

Premiere and release plan

The premiere is scheduled at Prestige Ngong Road from 6pm, with tickets priced at KSh 2,500 through YAKWETU and including a welcome cocktail, the exclusive screening, a cast and crew question-and-answer session and networking with filmmakers and industry guests. Distribution afterwards moves to theatrical release across the four East African markets, followed by an online window via YAKWETU, the distributors said.

The premiere falls inside the NBO Film Festival's seventh edition, which runs from 15 to 25 October 2026 across four Nairobi venues, including Prestige Plaza, under the theme "Cinema for Us", according to the FestivalIndex event record. The festival programme also includes three juried competitions and the first retrospective of Senegalese filmmaker Alain Gomis.

17 October 2026: African red-carpet premiere at the NBO Film Festival, Prestige Ngong Road from 6pm

15 to 25 October 2026: NBO Film Festival seventh edition across four Nairobi venues

30 October 2026: theatrical release in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda

Cast and creative team

The film stars Eliane Umuhire, Denise Gough, Charlie Carrick, Dominic West, Laurent Lafitte and Danny Sapani, alongside Kenyan performers Michelle Tiren, Nice Githinji, Lwanda Jawar, Helen Keli, Peter Kawa and Eddie Kimani. It is directed by Emily Atef, whose earlier films include 3 Days in Quiberon and More Than Ever, with cinematography by Helene Louvart and editing by Anne Fabini.

The screenplay, by Atef, Hawa Essuman, Josune Hahnheiser and Jeannine Dominy, is based on veteran foreign correspondent Lara Santoro's novel Mercy, and the production is an international co-production by Ringel Film, Les Films Pelleas, Cowboy Films and Streetcar Productions with Zischlermann Filmproduktion, Construction Film and Ascent Films. The distributors note that the film was shot in Kenya with a largely local cast and production team.

Story and stakes

Set in Nairobi in 1999 against the backdrop of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the story follows Queen Achungo, a Rwandan refugee and single mother living in Korogocho, and Anna, an Irish and Italian journalist newly arrived in an affluent Nairobi suburb. When Queen becomes Anna's housekeeper, their friendship opens into a shared fight over unequal access to life-saving HIV medication, a conflict the synopsis ties to pharmaceutical patents, poverty and political inaction.

Queen is the undisputed heroine of the film, a woman whose resilience and natural leadership emerge as her personal struggle grows into a fight for her community.

Atef's quote, published in the distributors' notes, frames Queen's arc as self-determination rather than rescue, and the film uses the two women's unequal starting points to examine race, global trade and political responsibility.

Why the release matters for Kenyan cinema

The release places a Kenyan-shot international co-production in front of local audiences first, a sequence that is not automatic for foreign-financed films set in the country. Crimson Multimedia, the East African distributor, previously handled theatrical runs for Kenyan titles including Nairobi Half Life, Rafiki, Softie, Supa Modo and Kati Kati, which gives the release an experienced local pipeline.

The distributors are also inviting partnerships for impact screenings on HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment access, equal access to healthcare, and women's empowerment, according to joint chief executive Trushna Buddhdev-Patel. The credits carry a dedication to Appie Matere, a Kenyan film and television producer who worked on the film with Ascent Films before her death.

Limits of what is confirmed

The premiere and release dates are announced plans by the rights holders, not box-office or attendance outcomes, and the festival listing confirms the festival window and venues rather than the premiere's slot within it. The film has already earned selections at international festivals, including the Hamburg Film Festival, per the distributors' notes.

For Kenyan audiences the practical facts are settled: a ticketed Nairobi premiere on 17 October, a four-country cinema release from 30 October, and a local cast and crew whose work returns home before the film travels further.

Source: https://streamlinefeed.co.ke/news/call-me-queen-to-premiere-at-nbo-film-festival