Episode 26 - Kimathi at War with Julie MacArthur

Off-Campus History

On today’s episode, we dig into the history of the Mau Mau Rebellion with someone working on a film about it!

I’m joined by Julie MacArthur, Associate Professor of History at the University of Toronto, to discuss a feature film she is presently co-writing. The film, currently with a working title of Kimathi at War, will centre on the experiences of Mau Mau rebels who fought against British colonial rule in Kenya during the 1950s. Julie is herself an expert on the history of the Mau Mau, as well as on African cinema!

In our conversation today, we discuss the history of the Mau Mau Rebellion, why it makes for a fascinating film topic, and how it and other aspects of African colonial and anti-colonial history have been depicted in film. We also get into what it’s like to research and write a historical film.

In interviewing Julie, I learned a lot about the history of the Mau Mau Rebellion, a topic I knew very little about coming into it. The interview is also a rare chance to peek behind the curtain of the early stages of an early historical film. So I think you’re going to really enjoy our conversation!

For those interested in learning more about the history of the Mau Mau Rebellion, I strongly recommend checking out Julie’s edited volume Dedan Kimathi on Trial: Colonial Justice and Popular Memory in Kenya’s Mau Mau Rebellion (Athens: Ohio University Press, 2017). The book features a combination of scholarly interpretations and primary-source historical documents that together make it a really useful and fascinating read. For those interested in learning more about the origins of the Mau Mau rebellion, also have a look at Tabitha Kanogo’s Squatters and the Roots of Mau Mau 1905-63 (London: James Currey, 1987).

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