Makutano Junction

Makutano Junction
Genre Drama
Soap opera
Written by Philip Luswata
Naomi Kamau
Natasha Likimani
Charles Ouda
Wanjiru Kairu
Damaris Irungu
Morrison Mwadulo
Charles Ouda
Patrick Serro
Joanne Carpenter
Directed by Andrew Gosling
Mary Migui
Salome Kinyanjui
Shani Grewal
Derrick Omfwoko Aswani
Starring Lizz Njagah
Maqbul Mohammed
Peter King
Regina Rè
Raymond Ofula
Joseph Omari
Emily Wanja
Charles Ouda
Naomi Kamau
Angela Ndambuki
Onyango Owino
Patrick Serro
Tonny Njuguna
Philip Luswata
Carol Midimo
Ken Ambani
Damaris Irungu
Raymond Ofula
Wanja Mworia
Janet Kirina
Theme music composer Simon Brint
Tom Dyson
Country of origin Kenya
Original language(s)
  • English
  • Kiswahili
No. of seasons 14
No. of episodes 171 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) David Campbell
Naomi Kamau
Producer(s) Patricia Gichinga
Editor(s) Luiza Wanjiku Makbul
Mercy Muriuki
Esther Kintu
Camera setup Multi-camera setup
Running time 27 minutes
Production company(s) Mediae Production Company[1]
Release
Original network
Picture format 576i SDTV
Original release 9 January 2007 (2007-01-09) – present (present)
External links
Website

Makutano Junction is a Kenyan soap opera that premiered in 2007. It captures different themes that affect the normal African society. The main contemporary issues that are mostly stressed in the drama are, corruption, education, early marriages, Female Genital Mutilation and pregnancies, HIV/AIDS, human rights, social justice, values and perceptions, conflict resolution. The story is set on a fictional village named Makutano and has an ensemble cast of different Kenyan actors.

Production

Production crew

The show is produced by David Campbell and Naomi Kamau. The series has had different directors and writers who dedicate to different episodes and seasons. The first director was Andrew Gosling. Shani Grewal directed 39 episodes of the show. Mary Migui, Salome Kinyanjui and Omfwoko Aswani were also directors at some point in the television series. Philip Luswata, also playing a main role in the teledrama, is the primary scriptwriter. Other writers were Morrison Mwadulo, Natasha Likimani, Charles Ouda, Damaris Irungu, Patrick Serro and Wanjiru Kairu. Official production of this television series was started in 2005.

Filming

The first nine seasons were shot in standard and were framed at 4:3 aspect ratio. Subsequent seasons have had 16:9 widescreen. Each season is set to have 13 episodes each. The first season was released in the same year and issues such as Human Rights, Social Justice, Values and Perceptions, Conflict Resolution, Sustainable Development, interdependency among more were showcased.[2] In series two of Makutano, Living with HIV/AIDS social justice were the key issues.[3] In the third season, human rights,diversity values and perceptions were the key issues that were put into play.[4] In the fourth season that ran for the usual 13 episode run had all the previous themes combined one key issue that was included women leadership and the challenges they face. This made Regina Rè as the central character of the season.[5] Down to the thirteenth season, women banking had its fly as it encouraged women to consider saving their money for financial security. The 2015-2016 season will cover the topics: tracking education for children, improving education in schools through teacher and parent participation, women's empowerment and agribusiness entrepreneurship. The season will premiere on October 14, 2015 at Citizen TV.

Premise

Makutano Junction spans through different families in Makutano Village. For every normal village there must be a saga. Hence Makutano Village, may not be out of a norm. Cases such as corruption, health issues, empowerment of women, domestic violence which are common in most parts of developing nations, thus ways of tackling such cases are showcased in the story. For instance one gets to meet a select of family members like The Mabukis, who are headed by Winston Mabuki. He is a respectable man in his mid sixties. Married to an ambitious woman Priscilla and they have one son, Karis who has a daughter (a product of their teenage romance) with Hope Baraka but never got married, an ex-convict that demands fear from the rest of the village. The series also features a family that have members suffering from HIV/AIDS. The HIV/AIDS is mainly showcased by Margaret who does not hide her status and lives a normal life without infecting her loving husband Matano, the Makutano chief. They even conceive a daughter who is born healthy. It is The Okodis, in which Mama Mboga has to fight stigmatization and endure the abuse he receives from her husband Erasmus Okodi. The story also features political ventures of various characters and the challenges they face especially women. At one point, Hope Baraka vies for parliamentary elections where she faces discrimination among men and conservative members of society. Moreover, family and marital problems are also depicted in the storyline. For example, Hannington Baraka shares a very distant relationship with his youngest son Philip, who only seeks for his father to look at his good side and support his decisions no matter how rushed they are sometimes. Love is also represented in the show, for instance the great love that Philip has for Red.

Cast

Regular cast

The Mabukis

The Barakas

The Mulanis

The Mukaras

The Okodis

Barbers and Hairdressers

Barbers

as Bill[21]

The Matanos
Hairdressers

The Matendecheres

Other cast

Broadcast

Since its premiere, Makutano Junction has been broadcast all over East Africa. In Kenya it recorded regular viewership of 7 million viewers by 2013,[22][23] making it the most watched local program in the country. In Tanzania, it recorded average viewership of 2 million viewers and a viewership rating of 3 million in Uganda.[24]

Series overview

Season Episodes Originally aired
First aired Last aired
1 13 January 9, 2007 April 3, 2007
2 13 April 10, 2007 July 3, 2007
3 13 July 10, 2007 October 2, 2007
4 13 October 9, 2007 December 31, 2007
5 13 March 8, 2008 May 31, 2008
6 13 June 7, 2008 August 30, 2008
7 13 May 3, 2009 July 26, 2009
8 13 August 2, 2009 September 26, 2009
9 13 February 6, 2010 May 1, 2010
10 13 May 8, 2010 July 31, 2010
11 12 July 2, 2011 September 17, 2011
12 13 November 10, 2012 February 2, 2013
13 13 February 9, 2013 May 11, 2013
14 13 October 14, 2015 TBA

References

  1. ↑ "Makutano junction mediae". mediae.org. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Series 1 episode summaries". makutanojunction.org.uk/. Medianet. October 5, 2004. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Series 2 episode summaries". makutanojunction.org.uk/. Medianet. October 5, 2004. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Series 3 episode summaries". makutanojunction.org.uk/. Medianet. October 5, 2004. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Series 3 episode summaries". makutanojunction.org.uk/. Medianet. October 5, 2004. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Winston is a pillar of the Makutano community". Makutano Junction. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Priscilla Mabuki's character". Makutano Junction. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Karis Mabuki". Makutano Junction. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Ojlambo". Makutano Junction. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Hannington Baraka". Makutano Junction. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Bernadette Baraka/Margy Aketch". Makutano Junction. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  12. ↑ "Makutano,the soap character". Makutano Junction. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  13. ↑ "RegRe kwa makutano junction". Makutano Junction. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Charles Ouda is Philip Baraka MJ". Makutano Junction. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  15. 1 2 3 "The Mulani's family tree". Makutano Junction. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  16. ↑ "MJ's Kara Mulani". Makutano Junction. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  17. ↑ "Meet Red Mulani". Makutano Junction. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  18. 1 2 3 "Mukaras Family tree". Makutano Junction. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  19. ↑ "The actress Naomi Kamau". Makutano Junction. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "The Okodi family tree". Makutano Junction. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "The Makutano saloonists". Makutano Junction. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  22. ↑ "Makutano, Junction Viewership". .mediae.org. Retrieved October 7, 2015.
  23. ↑ "The makutano". MJATP. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  24. ↑ "Viewership ratings in UG and TZ" (PDF). Media Broad. Retrieved October 7, 2015.
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