The "Country Queen" plot centers around Akisa, who left her village years ago to move to the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. Yet when tragedy strikes, she must return home. Once there, she discovers that an exploitative mining company has moved in and her village is under threat. She now has to decide whether to return to her life in the city or face her past and fight for her village.

It took 80 actors, 87 crew members and over 250 extras to film the six episodes of the first season. The series was released on Netflix on July 15, 2022, becoming the first Kenyan series on the streaming platform. For three weeks, it was the top-streamed series in Kenya. The project was supported by DW Akademie and the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

The drama series deals with land grabbing, child labor, corruption and other challenges currently facing Kenyans. "I know that our issues in our country cannot be solved overnight, but our story brings a vocabulary so people can talk about [the issues] and hopefully create a lasting solution," said producer Kamau Wandung'u.

"What I like about the series is it doesn't show the stereotypical view of Africans, especially Africans in the village. [Productions] are always kind of showing us as very backward and wanting to go to the city and all of this, but the [series] shows really strong, passionate, fiery people in the village. And they're just as strong in terms of their character as the people in the city."

"Our country is at a critical transitory stage politically, socially and economically. Kenyans are at a point where they need introspection […]: How much control should global corporations have on our mining and agriculture? And how much is corruption affecting us? These are conversations that should and are being had. 'Country Queen' is adding a strong voice to this."

"This story is not only personal to me because I'm Kenyan but because it goes down to my local tribe, which is Kamba, and I get to speak my language in this show. That gives me great pride and it gives me great joy that I was able to contribute to my local language. I would call my grandmother to help me even translate the difficult words for the people and writers on set."

"I achieved my full potential on the production of 'Country Queen'. The producers and my department head were able to see in me what I was yet to see in myself […] I am currently doing [first assistant camera] jobs and this is all thanks to the skills I acquired on the 'Country Queen' set, working as a second assistant camera. I am hoping to become the next best female [director of photography]."

Good Karma Fiction acted as executive producers and, with Tililiz Productions, also led trainings at various levels, including acting. "With 'Country Queen', and the Good Karma Fiction and DW Akademie team, the standards for good, successful productions were set up in a completely new way, and with respect for the film artists. That was a game changer," said Raymond Olufa.

Nini has worked in the industry for 24 years. The workshops, she said, "raised the bar of acting because we now demand more from ourselves as actors. And what I continue to gain is the idea that you never stop learning about techniques and skills. As an actor, you've never reached a point where you can be like, 'yeah, I know it all' or 'I've learned enough'."