Wanuri Kahiu

I recently read an interview with Wanuri Kahiu in the 51st Edition of Bitch Magazine. What an inspiration! Wanuri is a 30 year old Kenyan woman, who went to university in England and the US, and then went back home to Nairobi to become a hugely promising filmmaker. Here first two pieces of work, From A Whisper, based on dealing with loss and forgiveness 10 years after the US Embassy bombing in Nairobi) and Pumzi, a short sci-fi film based in a world after World War III, have already been critically acclaimed with awards and glowing reviews. I'm really excited for the release of her next piece of work, Ger, a documentary based on the return home to Sudan of former child soldier who became an actor and model, Ger Duany.

Here is a link to the whole article: "The Africa That I Know" in Bitch Magazine
I love her response to the inevitable "why didn't you stay in the US?" question: "From the moment I entered UCLA, I knew what kind of filmmaker I wanted to be. I wanted to make films to take back home. Or films about people back home. And when I tried to write when I was in America, I inevitably found myself writing about films or about characters that were very, very African. So it just didn't make sense for me to stay."

Some more links:
Wanuri Kahiu's Blog
Pumzi trailer on YouTube
From A Whisper trailer on YouTube
Ger Duany