New international Kenyan film CALL ME QUEEN is set to premiere in Kenya on 17 October 2026 at the NBO Film Festival (Prestige Ngong Road from 6 PM), with members of the film’s Kenyan and international cast and crew expected to attend the special premiere. The film will then launch in cinemas across Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda from 30 October 2026. Tickets to the exclusive Africa red-carpet premiere are now available via YAKWETU at 2,500 KES which includes a welcome cocktail, exclusive screening, cast and crew Q&A and networking with filmmakers and industry guests.
CALL ME QUEEN stars Eliane Umuhire (Rwandan-French), Denise Gough (Irish), Charlie Carrick (Canadian-British), Dominic West (British), Laurent Lafitte (French), Danny Sapani (British), alongside Kenya’s very own Michelle Tiren, Nice Githinji, Lwanda Jawar, Helen Keli, Peter Kawa and Eddie Kimani.
The film, directed by award-winning French-Iranian filmmaker Emily Atef, was filmed in Kenya with a largely local cast and production team. Inspired by true events, the screenplay, based on veteran foreign correspondent Lara Santoro’s novel ‘MERCY’, was written by Emily Atef, Hawa Essuman (Kenyan-Ghanaian author), Josune Hahnheiser (German filmmaker) and Jeannine Dominy (British writer).
CALL ME QUEEN is set in Nairobi in 1999, against the backdrop of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The story follows Queen Achungo (Eliane Umuhire), a fiercely determined Rwandan refugee and single mother living in Korogocho slum and Anna (Denise Gough), an Irish / Italian international journalist newly arrived in Kenya and living in an affluent Nairobi suburb.
What begins as an unlikely employer–employee relationship develops into an extraordinary friendship between two women from different worlds. Ultimately, they join forces to fight against one of the greatest injustices of that era: unequal access to life-saving HIV medication. As their worlds collide, their encounter exposes the stark inequalities that shape access to healthcare, whose voices are heard and whose lives are valued, while confronting wider questions of race, global trade and political responsibility – issues whose consequences continue to resonate more than two decades later.
At the heart of the film is Queen, a woman whose strength, humour, intelligence and fearlessness have carried her through extraordinary hardship. Desperate to find work and provide for her children, she approaches Anna and becomes her housekeeper. What neither woman expects is how their lives will become intertwined. As their friendship develops, Queen opens Anna’s eyes to a reality far removed from her privileged life. Their very different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives repeatedly challenge their relationship, but also create a space in which both women begin to see the world and themselves differently.
When Queen discovers that she is HIV-positive, her personal fight for survival becomes a much larger struggle. At a time when life-saving HIV medication existed but remained inaccessible to millions because of its cost, Queen refused to accept that poverty, political inaction, pharmaceutical patents or geography should determine who gets to live.
Director Emily Atef says, “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. Her strength, humour and fearlessness and innate intelligence is what makes her a born leader. Queen and the people around her take control of their own struggle and fight for change on their own terms.” For the director, this perspective is central to the film, which uses the friendship between Queen and Anna to explore how two women from very different cultural, economic and social circumstances can challenge, influence and ultimately meet one another as equals.
The17 October 2026 premiere at the NBO Film Festival will mark CALL ME QUEEN’s official Kenyan launch, ahead of its theatrical release across Kenya and East Africa from 30 October 2026. The film has already earned selections at leading international festivals, including the Hamburg Film Festival in Germany.
CALL ME QUEEN offers a riveting look back at a defining period in the country’s history while asking urgent questions about equality, dignity and access to life, questions that remain relevant today. Join in a powerful Kenyan story reaching audiences both at home and around the world.
Distributed by Crimson Multimedia and YAKWETU™, their joint CEO, Trushna Buddhdev-Patel, says, “We’re excited to bring this riveting film to cinemas across East Africa from 30th October; followed by online via YAKWETU™ We are also inviting Partnerships for Impact Screenings on the critical Issues raised of HIV/AIDS Prevention, Detection & Treatment (amidst its current Resurgence); Equal Access to Healthcare, Information & Medicine for all Diseases; Women Empowerment & Activism for Social Justice; and the Importance of Community and Friendship.”
