Netflix acquires award-winning documentary short 'One Last Order' co-directed by Kenyan Sam Soko

Kenyan documentary filmmaker Sam Soko has scored another international milestone after Netflix acquired One Last Order, the award-winning short documentary he co-directed with American filmmaker Lauren DeFilippo.

The acquisition gives the 21-minute film a global streaming platform following a strong festival run in the United States and places it among the documentary shorts being positioned for the 2027 awards season. Netflix has also acquired an open field, a documentary short by South African filmmaker Teboho Edkins.

Produced by Nairobi-based LBx Africa and New York's Insignia Films, One Last Order follows Sighle Williams during her final shift at Mac's Drive-Thru in Gainesville, Florida, after 37 years working at the restaurant.

Williams expects a quiet farewell. Instead, her final day becomes a community event, with customers returning to celebrate a woman whose everyday interactions at the drive-through window had made her a familiar and valued figure in the town. The film's official logline describes her as someone who turned routine orders into personal connections.

The film was produced by Soko, DeFilippo and Amanda Pollak, with the production bringing together the Kenyan company LBx Africa and Insignia Films. The collaboration continues the working relationship between Soko and DeFilippo, who previously co-directed Free Money, a documentary about a long-running universal basic income experiment in Kogutu, western Kenya.

One Last Order made its world premiere at the 2026 True/False Film Festival, where it was listed as a 21-minute short.

It subsequently established itself as a festival favourite. At the 35th Aspen Shortsfest, it won both the Jury Award for Documentary and the Audience Award.

The film went on to win the Audience Short Film Award at the Miami Film Festival, adding another major audience prize to its growing collection.

At the Nantucket Film Festival, it also won the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary Short, the Audience Award and the Teen View Award, according to reporting on the film's Netflix acquisition.

For Soko, the Netflix deal arrives as his international profile continues to grow. He is the co-founder and head of LBx Africa and has built a career around documentaries that connect personal stories with wider social and political questions.

His breakthrough feature, Softie, followed Kenyan activist and photojournalist Boniface Mwangi's attempt to enter elective politics while balancing the demands of activism and family. The documentary premiered at Sundance and established Soko as a filmmaker with an international audience.

He later teamed up with DeFilippo on Free Money, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival before arriving on Netflix. The film subsequently reached a wider African audience through the streaming service.

Soko's standing in the global documentary community has also grown beyond his filmmaking credits. In 2025, he was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Documentary Branch, placing him among the industry's international documentary professionals.