Wanuri Kahiu facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Wanuri Kahiu
Born	(1980-06-21) 21 June 1980 (age 45) Nairobi, Kenya
Education	University of Warwick University of California, Los Angeles
Occupation	Filmmaker
Notable work	From a Whisper (2008); Pumzi (2009); Rafiki (2018)

Wanuri Kahiu (born on June 21, 1980) is a talented Kenyan film director, producer, and author. She is known as one of Africa's most exciting directors, bringing fresh stories about modern African culture to the world.

Wanuri has won many awards for her films. For example, her film From a Whisper won awards for Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Picture at the 5th Africa Movie Academy Awards in 2009. She also helped start AFROBUBBLEGUM, a group that supports African art for its own sake.

In January 2025, Wanuri Kahiu was chosen to be a judge at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. She will judge the World Cinema Dramatic competition category alongside Ava Cahen and Daniel Kaluuya.

Her Journey in Film

Wanuri Kahiu was born in Nairobi, Kenya. She now lives between Nairobi and Mombasa, Kenya. In an interview, she shared that her parents had traditional jobs; her mother was a doctor and her father a businessman. However, her aunt is an actress and her uncle is a sculptor.

Wanuri comes from a family of "strong, forward-thinking women." Her mother was one of the first female pediatricians in their area. In a 2014 talk, Wanuri mentioned that growing up in Kenya, she did not see many African love stories. Because of this, some of her films try to show these kinds of stories.

Discovering Her Passion

Even though her family had different careers, Wanuri decided to work in the arts. At 16, she found her love for filmmaking. This came from her passion for reading and telling stories.

After high school, Wanuri first got a degree in Management Science from the University of Warwick in England in 2001. Then, she went back to her artistic passion. She earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in production and directing from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Theatre, Film and Television.

Starting Her Career

Wanuri began her film career by working as an intern for director F. Gary Gray. This allowed her to work on his 2003 film, The Italian Job. She learned from Gray to "keep an eye on the bigger picture" while paying attention to small details.

In 2006, Wanuri directed her first professional film, a documentary called The Spark that Unites. It was about the making of the film Catch a Fire, directed by Phillip Noyce. Wanuri and Noyce became good friends. Noyce encouraged her to return to Kenya to tell local stories. He believed it was important to "be a local success first before becoming an international storyteller."

Ras Star

Ras Star was Wanuri Kahiu's first short film, made in 2006. It tells the story of Amani, a teenage rapper in Nairobi. Amani lives with his Islamic aunt and uncle. He secretly practices for a local talent show, but he and his brother get involved in criminal activities in their neighborhood.

From a Whisper

Her first full-length film, From a Whisper (2008), was a big success. It received 12 nominations and won five awards at the 5th Africa Movie Academy Awards in 2009. The film won Best Picture, Best Screenplay, and Best Director.

The movie tells a fictional story about the 1998 terrorist attack on the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi. It follows a young girl named Tamani, whose mother dies in the attack. Her father tells her that her mother is missing. Tamani searches for her mother, painting hearts across the city. She becomes friends with a policeman named Abu, who helps her. We learn that Abu feels ashamed because he did not stop his friend, who helped attack the embassy.

Wanuri remembers the bombing, even though she was a teenager at the time. She called it "a horrific and traumatic event from Kenya." She recalled her mother treating many victims of the bombing. Wanuri noted that this tragedy brought Kenyans together, no matter their background.

Pumzi

Pumzi (2009) is a film that shows a hopeful future for Africa. It uses a style called Africanfuturism, which blends African culture with science fiction. The story is about Asha, a young botanist, 35 years after a "water war." Asha discovers life outside her underground community. In her community, people take medicine to stop dreams of a better future.

Pumzi was shown at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. It won several awards, including Best Short Film at the Cannes Film Festival. The film explores how women are often most affected by environmental problems but are also leaders in fixing their societies.

For Our Land

Wanuri Kahiu's documentary For Our Land tells the story of Nobel Peace Prize winner Professor Wangari Maathai. This film was part of a series called "The Great Africans" for a South African TV channel. The documentary highlights Professor Maathai's work in environmental and political activism. It shows how European colonialism affected the environment and how land battles connect with housing developments.

Rafiki

Wanuri Kahiu's 2018 film Rafiki (meaning "Friend") was supported by the Netherlands Film Fund. The film was made by Big World Cinema, a South African company that helps young African filmmakers. Wanuri worked with Steven Markovitz, a South African producer she also worked with on Pumzi. She believes that having people from different countries makes a project stronger and helps the film industry grow in Africa.

Rafiki is a love story between two girls, Kena and Ziki, who live in the same neighborhood. Their relationship grows despite the traditional environment around them. Kena's father is a store owner running for local elections. Ziki's father is the opposing candidate, who has more money for his campaign.

As Kena and Ziki's relationship develops, the film shows the conservative views of the people around them. Wanuri Kahiu wants Rafiki to be seen as a love story first, showing that love can exist in many forms.

The film was the first Kenyan film to be shown at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, where it received a standing ovation. It was nominated for the Queer Palm Award at Cannes. In total, Rafiki received 17 nominations and 17 awards at different international film festivals.

Wanuri Kahiu has said that being a filmmaker in Kenya is "ridiculously difficult" because film is not always valued as an art. Despite her international success, she sometimes struggles to get recognition in her own country because her ideas challenge common beliefs.

When making Rafiki, the production team got a license to film, even though the topic was seen as controversial. However, after filming, the Classification Board asked Wanuri to change the ending to be "more remorseful," saying it was "too hopeful." They wanted to ban the film if she did not change it. Wanuri refused, and the film was banned in Kenya.

The Wooden Camel

The Wooden Camel is Wanuri Kahiu's first children's book. It tells the story of a boy named Etabo who dreams of racing camels. His older siblings tease him, and his family sells their camels to survive. With help from his goat friend and his spirits, who tell him his "dreams are enough," he keeps dreaming. His sister then carves him a wooden camel, bringing Etabo closer to his family.

Rusties

Wanuri Kahiu co-wrote a short story called "RUSTIES" with Nnedi Okorafor. This story is set in a futuristic world and explores the relationship between a young girl and traffic-directing robots. Wanuri says that creating images for African children is important to help them see themselves in history and to hope for a future Africa.

Upcoming Film Adaptations

Wanuri Kahiu is working on several exciting film projects:

• In April 2019, she teamed up with Millie Bobby Brown for a film based on the young adult novel The Thing About Jellyfish. Wanuri is set to direct this film for Universal Studios.
• She is also working on adapting Octavia Butler's novel, Wild Seed, into a film series for Amazon. Wanuri will direct and develop the script with Nigerian author Nnedi Okorafor.
• In July 2020, it was announced that Wanuri Kahiu would direct a film based on the musical Once on This Island for Walt Disney Pictures. This film will be released on Disney+.

Creative Ideas

Africanfuturism

Wanuri Kahiu uses Africanfuturism in her art and as inspiration. This style draws on African myths, spiritual beliefs, and nature. Wanuri believes that African cultures have been thinking in futuristic ways for centuries. She sees Africa as a place that naturally blends spirituality and reality.

She also sees Africa as a futuristic space that challenges Western ideas about technology, nature, and time. Africa's future, she argues, is much older, deeper, and richer than Western ideas. Wanuri believes Africanfuturism helps Africa reclaim its own stories and spaces after colonialism. This is clear in Pumzi, where reclaiming and reusing things are shown as truly African practices. Pumzi's celebration of an Afro-centric future challenges negative views of Africa. Wanuri enjoys science fiction because it allows her to use metaphors to discuss challenging political or social topics in Africa.

Challenging Old Ideas

Wanuri Kahiu has criticized how some Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) show Africa. She says these images often make Africa seem "different" or "other."

Wanuri sees her work as a filmmaker as a way to fight these images. She says her films are for the next generation: "Because we have children that we are bearing, and because there are people already here now who exist (my daughter exists now), that we are telling stories to: we need to be very clear about the messages we're putting out."

Caring for the Earth

In an interview, Wanuri Kahiu said, "We have to be careful and sensitive, like in my film Pumzi we have to be the mother of mother nature and if we are not mother of mother nature than mother nature will stop mothering us." This shows her belief in protecting the environment.

Filmography

Director

• 2006: The Spark That Unites
• 2006: Ras Star
• 2008: From a Whisper
• 2009: Pumzi
• 2009: For Our Land
• 2014: State House (4 episodes)
• 2018: Who Am I?
• 2018: Rafiki
• 2022: Look Both Ways
• TBA: The Thing About Jelly Fish
• TBA: Once on This Island
• TBA: Wild Seed
• TBA: The Black Kids

Producer

• 2005: 500 Years Later
• 2005: Still Life
• 2013: Homecoming

Awards and Nominations

See also

• Africanfuturism
• Afrofuturism
• List of Afrofuturist films
• List of female film and television directors