Meet the cast & producers of newest film in town 'The More Things Change' [Profiles]

“The More Things Change”, or TMTC for short, which is a fiction anthology feature film from the Nest collective features, the talented Nyawara Ndambia (lead role), Melvin Alusa (Mission To Rescue, Crime and Justice), Bryan Ngatia (Too Early For Birds), Emmanuel Mugo (Sense8, Pillow Talk) and young luminary Stycie Waweru (Supa Modo, Just In Time).

The feature film which has been co-directed by collective members Akati Khasiani and Mars Maasai, explores what happens when an ordinary girl takes on a powerful adversary at great personal cost.

TMTC has been described as a slow-burn, cerebral, dramatic thriller. It boasts the unique narrative of looking back into Kenya’s political past, and then exploring the present, as well as imagining an exciting potential speculative future, to explore resistance by individuals and communities.

Actors

Nyawara Ndambia

Actress Nyawara Ndambia Actor Melvin Alusa and actress Nyawara Ndambia Pulse Live Kenya

Nyawara Ndambia is a passionate adrenaline junkie, and a lover of the arts and life. She started her acting career after high school, joining the Phoenix Theatre in 2014. Right after her first play, she ventured into film, with ‘Before and After’ being her screen debut.

She has featured in the Maisha Magic movies ‘Lost Innocence’ and ‘Sheila’, as well as most recently in the Kenyan blockbuster ‘Supa Modo’.

Melvin Alusa

Actor Melvin Alusa Actor Melvin Alusa Pulse Live Kenya

Melvin Alusa is a professional stage, screen and voice actor, with over 16 years’ experience both locally and internationally. His diverse theatre work has featured straight plays, musicals and dramatized poetry.

Some of his works here include Githaa by The Theatre Company, Silence is a Woman by renowned playwright Sitawa Namwalie, the two-hander Alpha Beta, among others.

He has starred in several international movies including The First Grader working alongside eminent Hollywood actress Naomie Harris, as well as the Netflix hit The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, and most recently the hit TV series Crime and Justice, which is currently airing on ShowMax. Melvin is also a fitness enthusiast who enjoys running, boxing, endurance work, and strength training.

Emmanuel Mugo

Emmanuel Mugo Emmanuel Mugo Pulse Live Kenya

Emmanuel Mugo is a passionate and energetic stage, film and TV actor who made his debut in 2009 as part of Jawabu Quality Productions, a travelling theatre group. Mugo has also worked prolifically as a stunt performer, with roles in notable projects such as the Netflix series Sense 8. He has also acted in well-loved Kenyan TV shows like Tahidi High, This is Life, Selina, Sue na Johnnie, MaEmpress, and KINA, from 2012 until the present day.

Emmanuel has also worked in feature films, with roles in exciting projects such as the reflective film Pillow Talk, and the recent blockbuster, Mission To Rescue, Kenya's first military themed action film.

Tirath Singh

Tirath Singh Tirath Singh Pulse Live Kenya

Tirath Singh started his work in theatre, dance and acting in primary school at Saint Mary's School Nairobi, and is still thrilled and enchanted by it all to date, at 26. He has starred in the celebrated Kenyan/Danish coproduction feature, Subira, for which he was nominated for a Kalasha Award for Best Actor.

He has also performed across Kenyan stages in various musicals and shows, such as Robin Hood The musical, Cinderella and a travelling theatre rendition of the famous farce Run For Your Wife.

Mercy Mutisya

Actress Mercy Mutisya Actress Mercy Mutisya Pulse Live Kenya

Mercy Mutisya made her professional acting career debut in Too Early for Birds (Brazen Edition) in 2017. This opened up room for further work in film and television, such as her feature in the experimental Kenyan film Tales of the Accidental City where she played Jacinda, and her most recent film, Abel Mutua’s much awaited 2021 comedy ‘A Grand Little Lie’, where she plays Ziada.

Directors

Akati Khasiani

Dr. Akati Khasiani Dr. Akati Khasiani Pulse Live Kenya

Dr. Akati Khasiani is a storyteller and musician. She DJs under the name Atiani, favouring old-skool and throwback mixes. She is one of the lead artists behind Strictly Silk, a unique dance party whose guests, artists and service providers are diverse women and non-binary people only.

She has a strong interest in the presence and participation of queer persons and femmes in and around African cultures, communities and spiritualities. Her work has been published at Jalada Africa, and she has been expanding her storytelling practice into film and other genres.

Mars Maasai

Mars Maasai Mars Maasai Pulse Live Kenya

Mars Maasai's a DJ, music producer, sound recordist and sound engineer for The Nest Collective. His music production style has evolved over the years from edits, remixes and bootlegs to pieces that include recordings of either himself as a singer/rapper or feature his collective mates.

His interest in film and film sound has been encouraged by the collective and has since seen him create scores that are largely based on soundscapes as opposed to approaches reliant on instrumentation.

Producers

Njeri Gitungo

Njeri Gitungo Njeri Gitungo Pulse Live Kenya

Njeri Gitungo is a producer, DJ, musician and member of the Nairobi-based Nest Collective and helms the Nest Collective’s production arm, running the making of films, music videos and events. Of note among these are: “Tuko Macho” (2016), The Nest’s biggest film production to date; “We Need Prayers”, the series which contributed the opening short at the 2018 edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam.

She is also the executive producer of Strictly Silk, a dance party with all performers, guests and event service providers being diverse populations of women and nonbinary people only. She DJs under the name Ziggie. As a DJ, Ziggie’s sets specialise in Afro-house, R&B, dance and house music.

JP Waithera

JP serves as the communications lead where she oversees the communication activities at the Nest which include engaging our audience through our social media channels, our website and the newsletter.

She is part of the Collective’s production team and is also expanding into DJ practice. She has a background in Anthropology, which has equipped her with an understanding of the many different aspects of the human experience, that allows her to relate to our different groups of audiences.