Bus 338: Serah Teshna reveals how isolation inspired her film
Kenyan actress and film producer Serah Teshna has opened up about the inspiration behind her latest film, dubbed Bus 338 and how it came to life.
Speaking during the premiere on Saturday night, April 4, 2026, Teshna revealed that it was conceived during her isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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She added that the film concept was what she was going through at that time.
“Bus 338 is one of the many stories that I came up with during my isolation, during the Covid time; it was basically what I was going through that particular time,” Teshna revealed.
She shared that writing became a way to maintain her mental health during the challenging months of 2020 and 2021, and Bus 338 was one of the stories that emerged from that period.
“During my isolation, as a way to just maintain my mental health, I wrote a lot, and Bus 338 was one of the stories that I was writing and I wanted to tell the story of what I was going through at that particular time, which was in 2020 and 2021,” she added.
The concept of the bus itself was deliberate. For Serah, a bus represented both confinement and a means of transport, a metaphor for the restrictions of lockdown while remaining relatable to the audience.
“As time goes by, and we are moving away from Covid, you have to talk about something that is more recent,” Teshna stated.
“For me, it was a bit easy because a bus is something that can define confinement as well as means of transport, so it is something that can be relatable to that is why the bus to me stood for that confinement.”
Characters and storyline
In addition, Teshna disclosed that the film also explores complex social themes through its characters.
She says the three thugs in the story reflect the modern societal issue of neglected male children, while Mumbi symbolises broken families and the challenges children face growing up without parents.
“Then we put in different characters in our society, the three thugs represent the modern society where the male child has been neglected and the results of neglecting the male child,” she explained.
“Also, Mumbi is a representation of a broken families; children grow up without their mothers and fathers and are just left to the world.”
“We tried as much as we could to have different aspects of people represented in the movie.”
Why Bus 338
Additionally, the award-winning actress further revealed that the title carries personal significance.
The number 338, Teshna’s lucky number, adds a unique touch to the narrative, which she describes as a story about humanity, survival, and the resilience of the human mind when confined in an environment.
“Everything about the bus is well thought out 338 are my lucky number; that is why we have the 338, and it is a very beautiful story about humanity. survival and basically what a human mind can actually achieve once it is confined in an environment,” Teshna explained.
