62 Time November 25, 2019
GROUNDBREAKING
FILMMAKER
WANURI KAHIU| 39
By dream hampton
I regularly insist to some fellow
sci-fi nerds that they watch
Pumzi, Kenyan filmmaker Wanuri
Kahiu’s stunning short film set in
a near- future dystopia. Pumzi—
as is characteristic of Wanuri’s
work—centered the stories of
Black women, including the
film’s protagonist, a scientist. In
her 2018 feature, Rafiki, Wanuri
once again told the story of Black
women—only this time, they
were in love with each other. The
film, which was initially banned
in Kenya because of its depiction
of a same-sex relationship, also
made history as the first from that
country to premiere at the Cannes
Film Festival.
Earlier this year, I invited herto a dinner at my Los Angeles
home, and she shared with me
what was then a secret: she was
a part of the small team that
would bring Octavia E. Butler’s
Wild Seed to screen. Butler
superfans can be assured that our
beloved Anyanwu, the centuries-
old, shape- shifting West African
woman who travels part of the
Middle Passage as a dolphin, is in
Wanuri’s magic hands. Wanuri has
the vision, wild imagination and
depth to deliver—and her films
have a knack for casting a spell.
hampton is a filmmaker and
writer