Kenyan film ‘Watu Wote’ nominated for an Oscar Award

A cover of the “Watu Wote” film which has been nominated for an Oscar Award. /COURTESY

Kenyan film ‘Watu Wote’ nominated for an Oscar Award

Kenyan film “Watu Wote” – all of us – has been nominated for an Oscar award for best live action short film.

The film is based on real life events where a Muslim man led fellow Muslim passengers in shielding their Christian colleagues from being shot by al Shabaab militants.

The armed militants had attacked a Mandera-bound bus near Elwak at around 7am on December 21, 2015.

Salah Farah, a teacher at a local school, confronted the militants together with fellow Muslim passengers as the attackers attempted to separate Christian passengers and shoot them.

The group told the attackers to kill everyone on the bus or leave them alone.

In November 2014, 28 people were massacred by suspected Al Shabaab militants who singled Christians from a Nairobi-bound bus they had hijacked.

During the 2015 incident, Farah was shot and wounded as he argued with the militants. He later succumbed to his injuries at Kenyatta National Hospital on January 17, 2016.