‘Kikuyu Land’ Trailer: A Man Fights To Reclaim Stolen Ancestral Land Worth Billions Of Dollars

EXCLUSIVE: The award-winning nonfiction feature Kikuyu Land documents a case of cultural erasure and land theft on a massive scale.

The documentary directed by Andrew H. Brown and Bea Wangondu unfolds in the tea highlands of Kenya, fertile lands that were seized from local people by the British during their colonial rule over the country. Mr. Mungai, a descendant of those original landowners, is doing everything he can to reclaim his family’s possessions and to see justice done for others like him.

“The colonials stole my ancestors’ land,” he says in the new trailer for Kikuyu Land. “Today, it’s worth billions.”

Kikuyu Land, which premiered in World Cinema Documentary Competition at Sundance, is set to open in UK cinemas on October 2, and in Los Angeles on October 9 at the Monica Film Center. A theatrical run at DCTV Firehouse Cinema in New York City begins November 13. Additional theatrical engagements will be announced in the coming weeks.

Watch the trailer for Kikuyu Land below.

The film won Best Documentary Feature at Mountainfilm Festival in Telluride, CO in May and has screened at more than 40 festivals in the U.S. and internationally.

In the film, Mr. Mungai “pursues justice for land taken from his family, bringing him into conflict with a powerful multinational corporation still operating on contested ground,” according to a synopsis. “His case draws Bea [co-director Bea Wangondu], a local news producer, into an investigation that becomes deeply personal as she uncovers long-silenced truths about her own family history. Running alongside their stories is Stephen, the son of a tea worker whose childhood unfolds within the plantations at the center of the dispute.”

The synopsis continues, “Moving between legal struggle and lived memory, Kikuyu Land explores the central role of land in identity, inheritance and resistance, while revealing how the structures created under colonial rule continue to shape lives in Kenya today.”

In a statement, filmmakers Andrew H. Brown and Bea Wangondu said, “Kikuyu Land is deeply personal for both of us. We wanted to center the voices of people living with the consequences of colonial land policies and create space for these stories to be told on their own terms. The film is ultimately about survival, generational inheritance and the question of what accountability looks like when the past refuses to stay buried. We hope it sparks conversations about who owns the land, who owns its stories, and what it means to reclaim both.”

Kikuyu Land is produced by Oscar nominee Moses Bwayo, Bea Wangondu, Andrew H. Brown, Mike Morrisroe for Trifilm Studios and Joseph Njenga. Executive producers include Tracy Rector, Amanda Brown, Mia Vyzis, and Barbara Terzieff. Cinematography is by Andrew H. Brown; Brown also edited the film. The original score is by Nyokabi Kariũki and Keir Vine.

“From the very start, our goal was to center the people whose stories we were telling and to highlight their experiences with honesty and empathy,” Wangondu commented in an interview. “We also had to work quietly. The issues at the core of this film are politically charged, and sharing too much about the project within Kenya could have put community members at risk or drawn unwanted attention before it was safe. So, we kept the circle small, focusing on relationships built on trust and mutual understanding.”

Brown noted, “We did our best throughout the shoot to balance visual beauty with ethical storytelling. The film needed to feel cinematic and immersive without compromising the people whose lives we were documenting. Every shot was chosen to represent the community, the land, and their stories, highlighting the richness and resilience of daily life without sensationalizing it.”