KENYAN ACTOR PLAYS LEGENDARY FINNISH COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF

Kenyan actor, Telley Savalas Otieno plays the role of Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim in a movie shot in Kenya in May this year.

According to Finnish paper, Helsingin Sanomat, the new film about was shot in May and only one scene, depicting the Winter War, was shot in Finland. All of the actors were also Kenyan.

In an interview with the paper, Telley said that Mannerheim was a difficult role to play.

"I didn't want to portray him as stiff, even though I am stiff myself as the result of a traffic accident. But when I got the uniform on, I thought that this is what I was born to be: tall and stiff."

Beside this movie, Telley has stared alongside Angelina Jolie in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. The premiere of the film, which runs for about 50 minutes, is at the Love and Anarchy film festival in Helsinki on September 28th. It will be shown on the Finnish's YLE Teema television channel later in the year.

Mannerheim was the military leader of the Whites in the Finnish Civil War, Commander-in-Chief of Finland's Defence Forces during World War II, Marshal of Finland, and a Finnish statesman. He was Regent of Finland (1918–1919) and the sixth President of Finland (1944–1946).

He made a career in the Imperial Russian Army, rising to the rank of lieutenant general. He also had a prominent place in the ceremonies for Tsar Nicholas II's coronation and later had several private meetings with the Russian Tsar. In 1944, when prospect of Germany's defeat in World War II became clear, Mannerheim was elected President of Finland and oversaw peace negotiations with the Soviet Union and the Allies. He resigned the presidency in 1946 and died in 1951, retaining universal respect as Finland's greatest statesman.