Kenyan-Nigerian romantic comedy East West Love is set to arrive in cinemas in Kenya on 9 October 2026, giving audiences a new cross-border love story centred on culture, friendship and unexpected romance. The film will open on the same date in Nigeria, Canada and the United Kingdom, marking a simultaneous international release for the production. Audiences in Tanzania and Uganda will have to wait for separate release dates, which are expected to be announced later. Directed by Tanzanian filmmaker Seko Shamte, the movie brings together talent from Kenya and Nigeria in a story that moves between Mombasa and Lagos. With its combination of romance and comedy, East West Love is positioned as a film that explores relationships while also highlighting connections between East and West African cultures.
The story follows Tito, played by Nigerian actress Sunshine Rosman, a successful event planner who travels to Mombasa expecting to enjoy a romantic getaway with her boyfriend. Her plans change dramatically when she discovers that he has been unfaithful, leaving her to decide what to do with a trip that was supposed to be about their relationship. Instead of allowing the disappointment to end her holiday, Tito transforms the trip into a girls’ getaway with her best friend. Her plans take another unexpected turn when she meets Juma, played by Brian Abajah, a hotel manager whose spontaneous personality challenges the way she thinks about relationships. Their meeting creates the central romantic tension of the film as Tito begins to confront ideas about love, control and the possibility of starting again after heartbreak.
Much of East West Love was filmed in Mombasa, giving the Kenyan coastal city an important role in the film’s visual and narrative setting. The production also includes scenes shot in Lagos, creating a connection between two major African cities and reflecting the Nigerian and Kenyan identities at the heart of the story. The cast brings together actors from both countries, including Efa Iwara, Elma Mbadiwe and Emmanuel Mugo. Sunshine Rosman is known for her role in To Kill a Monkey, while Brian Abajah has appeared in Married to Work. Their involvement alongside the wider Kenyan and Nigerian cast adds to the film’s pan-African character and places performers from different entertainment industries within the same romantic comedy.
The film is directed by Seko Shamte, a Tanzanian filmmaker whose previous work includes Binti. Her involvement gives East West Love a wider East African creative connection while the story itself focuses on an encounter between Nigerian and Kenyan characters. The production is led by Dolapo Adeleke and Folashayo Oke Sobo, who have both worked on other African film projects. Their combined experience has helped bring together a production designed to travel across several markets rather than remain limited to one national audience. The film’s story also provides a platform for exploring how people from different cultural backgrounds can approach relationships, expectations and personal freedom.
East West Love has already begun its festival journey ahead of its commercial cinema release. The film had its world premiere in May as the opening film of the 2026 NOW Film Festival in Paris, an event formerly known as the NollywoodWeek Film Festival. Its festival run continued with a screening at Africa Film Fest Australia in September, giving audiences outside Africa an opportunity to experience the film before its wider theatrical rollout. The festival appearances have also placed the Kenyan-Nigerian production within an international programme celebrating African cinema and filmmakers. Its move from festival screenings to a simultaneous cinema release in several countries represents the next stage in the film’s journey towards a broader audience.
The Kenyan theatrical release is being handled by pan-African entertainment company Okada Media, which has built a catalogue that includes African films such as The Girl in the Yellow Jumper, Binti and Mvera. The company’s involvement gives East West Love a distribution partner with experience bringing African productions to audiences across the continent and beyond. Mvera previously represented Kenya as the country’s submission for the Oscars in 2024, while Binti also connects directly to director Seko Shamte’s filmmaking career. For East West Love, the distribution partnership is particularly significant because the film’s story depends on audiences engaging with both Kenyan and Nigerian perspectives. The release strategy reflects the growing effort to move African films between national markets instead of treating each country’s cinema audience as a separate destination.
Okada Media co-founder Serge Noukoue has described East West Love as a film centred on culture, connection and comedy, saying those elements fit the company’s focus on the types of stories it wants to bring to cinema audiences. The comment reflects the film’s broader appeal as a production built around an interaction between characters from different African backgrounds. Rather than presenting the romance solely through the lens of one country, the film uses Mombasa and Lagos as key locations and brings together actors from Kenya and Nigeria. This cross-border approach also comes at a time when African film collaborations are creating more opportunities for stories to reach audiences beyond their countries of origin. East West Love therefore arrives in cinemas as both a romantic comedy and a Kenyan-Nigerian creative collaboration with an international release strategy.
With its Kenyan cinema release scheduled for 9 October 2026, East West Love is preparing to move from the festival circuit to a wider theatrical audience. The film combines a story about betrayal and new romance with the cultural connections created by its Kenyan and Nigerian production. Sunshine Rosman’s Tito is placed at the centre of the story as she turns an unexpected relationship setback into an opportunity to rethink what she wants from love. Brian Abajah’s Juma introduces a contrasting approach to relationships, creating the foundation for the film’s romantic and comedic elements. As audiences in Kenya, Nigeria, Canada and the UK prepare to see the film, East West Love is set to bring its Mombasa-based story of friendship, culture and unexpected love to cinemas from 9 October.
