Time International - 25.11.2019

(Jeff_L) #1
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 her

to 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


FAST FACTS


FIRST FEATURE


FILM


FROM A WHISPER,


RELEASED IN 2009


BIGGEST HIT


RAFIKI, ABOUT A


ROMANCE BETWEEN


TWO YOUNG WOMEN


IN NAIROBI, WAS


SELECTED FOR


CANNES BUT


BANNED IN KENYA


54

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