{{Short description|Kenyan film director}} {{use dmy dates|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = Jane Munene-Murago | citizenship = Kenyan | occupation = Filmmaker | notable_works = ''The Tender One'' }}
'''Jane Munene-Murago''' is a Kenyan filmmaker, the first woman to study film in Kenya. Most of her films have been documentaries, produced through her company CineArts, on issues affecting women.
==Early life and education== Munene grew up in Nairobi. She attended Ngara girls' high school and then later joined Kenya High School.
In 1976 Munene studied at the government-run Kenya Institute of Mass Communication (KIMC), and was the only woman among KIMC's first year of graduates.<ref>''Research in African Literatures'', vol. 25, Issues 3-4 (1994), p.97.</ref><ref name="HarrowGarritano2018">{{cite book|last=Steedman|first=Robin |editor=Kenneth W. Harrow |editor2=Carmela Garritano |title=A Companion to African Cinema|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZORwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA316|year=2018|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-119-10031-7|page=316|chapter=Nairobi-based Female Filmmakers: Screen Media Production between the Local and the Transnational}}</ref>
==Career== Munene's first documentary, ''The Tender One'' (1979), was made with United Nations support as part of the International Year of the Child.<ref>[https://www.africanfilmny.org/2013/jane-murago-munene/ Jane Murago-Munene], African Film Festival, Inc., 2013. Accessed 25 November 2019.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-07-05 |title=Africa’s finest film makers troop to Nairobi for the Ambika festival |url=https://nation.africa/kenya/life-and-style/weekend/africa-s-finest-film-makers-troop-to-nairobi-for-the-ambika-festival-313926 |access-date=2026-03-26 |website=Daily Nation |language=en}}</ref>
''Unbroken Spirit'' (2011) is a portrait of Monica Wangu Wamwere, the mother of human rights activist Koigi wa Wamwere, who took part alongside Wangari Maathai in the 1992 Mothers' Hunger Strike to release political prisoners. The film was shown at the New York African Film Festival 2012.<ref>[https://www.filmlinc.org/films/monica-wangu-wamwere-unbroken-spirit/ Monica Wangu Wamwere: The Unbroken Spirit].</ref>
Murago-Munene is a former chair of the Kenya National Film Association.<ref>Miriri Duncan, [https://womensenews.org/2004/09/women-drive-film-industry-kenya/ Women Drive Film Industry in Kenya], ''Women's eNews'', 21 September 2004. Accessed 15 November 2019.</ref>
{{As of|2016}} she was executive director of FEPACI.<ref>[https://www.the-star.co.ke/counties/2016-09-08-film-industry-to-receive-sh20-billion/ Film industry to receive Sh20 billion], ''The Star'', 8 September 2016.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ombuor |first=Joe |title=More funding sought to spur growth in Africa's film industry |url=https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/business/article/2000215142/more-funding-sought-to-spur-growth-in-africa-s-film-industry |access-date=2026-03-26 |website=The Standard |language=en}}</ref>
==Awards== Munene won the Lifetime Achievement Award of the 2012 Kalasha International Film and TV Awards.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wagwau (Writer) |first=Adam |date=2012-12-10 |title=FULL LIST: The Winners at This Year's Kalasha TV & Film Awards |url=https://www.ghafla.co.ke/full-list-the-winners-at-this-years-kalasha-tv-film-awards/ |access-date=2026-04-22 |website=Ghafla! |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Filmography == {| class="wikitable" |+ !Year !Title !Role !Category !Ref |- |1979 |''The Tender One'' |Director |Documentary | |- |1991 |''The Chosen One'' |Co-director with Dommie Yambo-Odotte |Documentary | |- |1994 |''Women, Water and Workload'' |Director |Documentary | |- |1995 |''Enkishon: the Maasai Child in Kenya'' |Director |Documentary | |- |2000 |''Out of Silence'' |Director |Documentary | |- |2003 |''The Price of a Daughter'' |Director |Documentary | |- |2004 |''Behind Closed Doors'' |Director |Documentary | |- |2008 |''Turning Tide: Women Entrepreneurs in Africa'' |Director |Documentary | |- |2010 |''Monica Wangu Wamwere:Unbroken Spirit'' |Director |Documentary | |}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name|2348187}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Munene-Murago, Jane}} Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:Kenyan film directors Category:Kenyan women film directors Category:Kenyan film producers Category:Kalasha Awards winners