I was at a talk yesterday about African cinema and a fantastic journalist mentioned this film.
You have to see it!

Some of you might remember I have lived in Kenya between 2010 and 1012. It is very dear to my heart. I learned a lot in East Africa, it literally opened my eyes on the realities of our world. Being able to be a witness and a storyteller is a privilege. It is a role of bridging. It should never be taken for granted or irresponsibly. That's why I became a journalist. Utterly grateful of that experience.

This film reflects a lot of the Kenya I've seen.

PUMZI - TRAILER

Trailer For PUMZI a Short film Produced By Inspired Minority and Writer/Director: Wanuri Kahui  

Producers: Simon Hansen, Hannah Slezacek and Amira Quinlan. VFX by Atomic VFX. 

Vfx Supervisor Simon Hansen. Executive Producer Steven Markowitz. 

Produced with the support of Focus Features Africa First, Goethe Institute and Changamato Fund Pumzi is in comeptition at Sundance 2010.


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Kenyan Sci-Fi Short Pumzi Hits Sundance With Dystopia

Wire, 2010


Pumzi, Kenya’s first science fiction film, imagines a dystopian future 35 years after water wars have torn the world apart. East African survivors of the ecological devastation remain locked away in contained communities, but a young woman in possession of a germinating seed struggles against the governing council to bring the plant to Earth’s ruined surface.

The short film, which will 
compete in screen at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, “started off as a small script about what kind of world we would have to be if we had to buy fresh air,” writer/director Wanuri Kahiu told Wired.com in a Skype interview.

Like recent standouts District 9 and Sleep Dealer, the short film taps into Third World realities and spins them forward for dramatic effect. But to produce Pumzi, Kahiu looked to the past, as well as the future.

She researched classic 1950s films to create her movie’s futuristic sets, comparing the processes of matte paintingand rear-screen projection with indigenous African artwork.

“We already have a tradition of tapestries and functional art and things like that, that loan a backdrop for films,” Kahiu said.

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Africa & science fiction: Wanuri Kahiu's "Pumzi", 2009 | Interview

Interview of Kenyan film writer/director Wanuri Kahiu, about "Africa and science fiction", in reference to the sci-fi movie she wrote and directed: Pumzi, 2009 [trailer: http://youtu.be/3elKofS43xM] This interview is part of the exhibition "Si ce monde vows déplaît" in FRAC Lorraine, Metz (France). More details about this event here: http://www.fraclorraine.org/explorez/...] Special Thanks to Wanuri Kahiu and Moulin d'Andé. Interview by Oulimata Gueye.