Leaving Isiolo
In and around the border-town of Isiolo, in East Africa, a young Kenyan businesswoman and a young Chinese miner prepare to leave town to begin their new life together - meeting at their favorite restaurant for one last meal.
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Irungu MutuDirector
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Irungu MutuWriter
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Loui TerrierProducer
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Wanzilu MaingiProducer
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Auudi RowaKey Cast"Ciiku Owiro"
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Zhang 'Troy' RenquanKey Cast"Lee"
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Irungu MutuKey Cast"Mr. Musa"
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Zhao 'James' ChuangzaoKey Cast"Chang"
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Zhao 'Mocha' JiajieKey Cast"Fong"
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Agatha JamariKey Cast"Henchwoman"
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William MwangiKey Cast"Henchman"
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Cynthiah MuthogiKey Cast"Hannah the Waitress"
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Meriwas RayKey Cast"Boda Boda Taxi-Driver"
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Samuel LekampaiyoKey Cast"Herdsman"
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Aisha RajadKey Cast"Black Hijab Lady"
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Shakila SwediKey Cast"Blue Hijab Lady "
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George KariukiKey Cast"Muslim Man"
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Loui TerrierKey Cast"Unga’s SUV Driver"
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Joan PoggioDirector of Photography
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Victoria C. PageEdited by
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Wynne BennettOriginal Music Composition by
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Gisburg SmialekSound Design & Mix
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Dale Koten'goProduction Designer
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Njeri 'Leeze' GatheruCostume Designer
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Ayo JacksonDance Choreography
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Jackson Kang'etheAssistant Camera
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Grishon OnyangoSound Recordist
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Bilal HamisiSound Recordist
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Onesmus KaranjaGaffer/Grip
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Wangechi MutuExecutive Producers
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Mario LazzaroniExecutive Producers
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Irungu MutuExecutive Producers
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Joshua TrojakAssociate Producers
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Wambura MutuAssociate Producers
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Mutu wa GethoiAssociate Producers
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Arthur Sanya MuiruriAssociate Producers
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Ian KabugiProduction Assistants
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Mark KuriaProduction Assistants
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John 'Geech' MbuguaProduction Assistants
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Project Type:Short
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Runtime:14 minutes 58 seconds
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Completion Date:April 24, 2021
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Country of Origin:Kenya
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Country of Filming:Kenya
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Language:Chinese, English, Swahili
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Shooting Format:RED
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Aspect Ratio:2:1
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:Yes
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Student Project:No
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BronzeLens Film FestivalAtlanta
United States
August 25, 2022
US Southern Premiere
Official Selection -
Pan African Film FestivalLos Angeles
United States
April 22, 2022
US Premiere
0fficial Selection / Best Short Narrative Nomination 🌿 -
Zanzibar International Film FestivalStone Town, Zanzibar
Tanzania, United Republic of
June 22, 2022
Africa Premiere
Official Selection / Ousmane Sembene Prize Nominee 🌿 -
International Black Film FestivalNashville, TN
United States
December 2, 2021
(Virtual)
Official Selection & Best International Film 🏆 -
Big Apple Film FestivalNew York
United States
May 23, 2022
Official Selection / Quarter Finalist -
NBO Film FestivalNairobi
Kenya
November 14, 2021
African Premiere (Virtual)
Official Selection -
Prague International Indie Film FestivalPrague
Czech Republic
September 18, 2021
European Premiere (Virtual)
Official Selection / Best Supporting Actor Nominee 🌿
He/Him
Irungu [ee-ro-go] Mutu is an actor and filmmaker. Born and raised in the cosmopolitan African city of Nairobi, Kenya. He studied acting in the United States at Rutgers University (BFA) and Univ. of California: San Diego (MFA).
Irungu is drawn to stories that explore the relationship of the African continent to the modern world. He’s fascinated by the migration of different human populations, and the dynamics of interaction within a collective space amongst disparate people.
He’s worked as an actor on stage, TV & film in the US & internationally. He has premiered original theatrical projects at the Kennedy Center, The Guggenheim, The Public Theater, The Signature, La Jolla Playhouse, etc. Guest & Co-starred on such TV shows as ‘Succession’, ’The Blacklist’, ‘Power’, ‘Elementary’, ’Boardwalk Empire’ & ‘Preacher’, and several indie films ’Bikini Sunshine’ Dir. by Milcho Manchevski, ’Grow’ & ’Oxalis’ Dir. by Brian Gottlieb.
His proof-of-concept/short film ‘Leaving Isiolo’, made with the most awesome team on earth, premiered theatrically in 2022 at the prestigious Pan-African Film Festival-LA (Best Short Film Nominee) & screened at over a dozen preeminent global film festivals including Zanzibar International Film Festival (Sembene Award Nominee), BronzeLens (Atlanta), International Black Film Festival, Nashville - (Best Intl Film Award) and Big Apple Film Festival (NYC).
He's been a proud union member of both SAG-AFTRA & Actors' Equity Association for over a dozen years.
Upcoming:
A principal role in ‘GROW’, a horror-indie feature film premiering this fall.
He is also currently in development for a feature film named ‘Out of Isiolo’.
He is based in Los Angeles.
https://linktr.ee/imutu
Good morning!
“Leaving Isiolo” is a neo-western crime drama, and a story of illicit love between a woman, Ciiku (Auudi Rowa), and a man, Lee (Troy Zhang), from vastly different worlds, who find each other in the harsh, remote terrain of northern Kenya. When the pair try to escape to build their new life together, she from her job balancing the books for the regional crime lord, and he from an abusive boss at a Chinese mining company, Isiolo becomes a perilous place for them both. How far will they go to be together?
I grew up in the cosmopolitan African city of Nairobi, Kenya, went to University in the United States, and now split my time between the two. As a result, whether as an actor on stage, film, and television or now as a first-time filmmaker, I am drawn to stories that explore the relationship of the African continent to the modern world. I'm fascinated by the migration of different human populations, and the dynamics of interaction within a collective space amongst disparate people.
Auudi Rowa is a university student and rising star, who I found during open-call auditions. To find the actor who portrays Lee, I combed the Nairobi-Chinese community. I fell in love with a non-actor Troy Zhang after he introduced me to his nine-month-old daughter, Mara, born in Nairobi and named after the world-famous Maasai Mara National Park. Casting Troy as Lee was serendipitous: a sensitive caring person who knew what it meant to start from scratch as a newly arrived immigrant to Africa. He’s very well known in the Chinese community and helped bring along two colleagues, also non-actors, who appear as fellow mine-workers.
In making the film, I was lucky to have the help of producers Loui Terrier and Wanzilu Maingi; the great eye of Director of Photography Joan Poggio; and the magic hand of executive producer Wangechi Mutu, my sister, muse, and world-renowned contemporary visual artist. The crew came from the thriving Kenyan film community.
I also want to thank the 2013 Sundance Directors Lab, where creative advisor Alfre Woodard taught me that “the film you wrote, isn’t the film you’ll shoot, and it won’t be the film you’ll edit.” It was a lesson to allow what I wrote to organically take its own shape through each phase.
“Leaving Isiolo” stands alone as a short film, but it's also a study for a feature-length screenplay, now in development. Enjoy my directorial debut!
Gratefully,
~ Irungu Mutu & the Leaving Isiolo Team.