Kahiu has expressed a desire to expand her extraordinary vision to feature length. PUMZI BLOG: PRESS: CONTACT: Show background: Synopsis. She has received several awards and nominations for the films which she directed, including the awards for Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Picture at the Africa Movie Academy Awards in 2009 for her dramatic feature film From a Whisper. Company Report Summary. [11] The documentary underscores the "relationship between European colonialism and environmental change" as well as the "intersectionalities" of battling over land with housing developments. Maathai's filmed biography takes part of a series "The Great Africans" for a South African television channel (M-Net). 'PUMZI' is the Swahili word for 'BREATH.' Director: Julie … ( Log Out /  Nature is extinct. Get a detailed Company Report for PUMZIKA MEDIA. The outside is dead. Produced by Simon Hansen, Hannah Slezacek, Amira Karam Quinlan. [8] Mitch Nyawalo argues that Pumzi's destruction parallels the economic devastation in the aftermath of the World Bank's structural adjustment programs. [17], Kahiu's co-written short story, "RUSTIES", indulges a futuristic world. [8], Kahiu's documentary For Our Land documents Nobel Peace Prize laureate Professor Wangari Maathai's story. I have recently stumbled upon the trailer for the short film Pumzi (Pumzi means 'breath' in Swahili). Asha has been neglecting to take her dream suppressants and is haunted by visions of a solitary tree growing in the wastelands above.  “Pumzi is a visual ode to life. The Africa Movie Academy Awards including Best Director and Best Picture. [4] Yet, her aunt is a famous actress in Kenya and her uncle is a sculptor. [18], In June 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, an event widely considered a watershed moment in the modern LGBTQ rights movement, Queerty named her one of the Pride50 "trailblazing individuals who actively ensure society remains moving towards equality, acceptance and dignity for all queer people". Contemporarily, Kahiu has identified an African Afrofuturism as one that undergoes a postcolonial reclamation of its own timelines, narratives, and spaces. 1 . Thirty-five years after the end of World War III -- a conflict fought over water -- Asha (Kudzani Moswela) is a woman living in a small enclosed community of survivors in Africa. One day a mysterious package arrives containing soil samples high in water content and seemingly perfect for sustaining life. Close Corporation . [19], Kahiu engages with Afrofuturism, both in her artistic creation and as inspiration. It tells the story of a young girl, Tamani, who loses her mother in the attack and is told by her father that her mother is missing when she is actually deceased. The outside is dead. The production company is Big World Cinema, a South African company supporting young African filmmakers. In just twenty or so minutes Kahiu creates a credible but decidedly alien vision of the future. [11], Kahiu's 2018 film Rafiki ("Friend") received funding by the Netherlands Film Fund. As a Sci-Fi fan, I would love to see more African Sci-Fi films. Wanuri Kahiu (born 21 June 1980) is a Kenyan film director, producer, and author. Asha appeals to the Council to grant her permission to investigate the possibility of life on the outside but the Council denies her exit visa. Posted by Enigmaress on April 28, 2011 in Africa, Tags: Academy Award for Best Picture, Africa, Focus Features, For Our Land' (2009) for M-Net 'Great Africans' Series, From A Whisper, Kenya, Mnet, Nobel Peace Prize, Pumzi, Pumzi Director, Wangari Maathai, Wanuri Kahiu, Zanzibar International Film Festival, on Pumzi (2010): meaning ‘Breath’ in Swahili), For Our Land' (2009) for M-Net 'Great Africans' Series. Water has become the new currency, used to give tips, all bodily excretions recycled for every precious drop. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. The community's precious water supplies must be carefully monitored, and all urine is sent through a purification process to be reused. In her protectionist community, members must take dream suppressants to quiet hopes of a better future. Nature is extinct. Pumzi is my breath.”. [18] Primarily, she locates Africa as relatively close to the spirit world, allowing for a blending of spirituality and reality both in story and in lived reality. [4] In an interview with Vogue Italia, the filmmaker describes herself as a black sheep to her conservative parents; her mother is a doctor and her father a businessman. Director Count . In Pumzi, Kahiu challenges the pessimistic representation of African realities and futures by using the aesthetics of Afrofutirism to demonstrate African-led creativity. When she receives a box in the mail containing soil, she plants an old seed in it and the seed starts to germinate instantly. In an interview with Quartz, Kahiu says that creating images for African children is important to correct "being written out of our histories" and to hope for a future Africa. 3. Asha lives and works as a curator of the Natural History Museum in one of the communities established in Africa. She has expressed that how you get money to be able to be a filmmaker in Kenya is through making films about whatever NGOs are funding – films that are about AIDS or female genital mutilation. Company Name . Kahiu has critiqued the ways in which Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) control the popular imagination of Africa. Homosexuality in Africa has long been debated, but Kahiu tells Olivier Barlet that homophobia is not of the spirit of Ubuntu since it marginalizes people in the community. "[10], African Studies scholar MaryEllen Higgins describes the film's "untraceable sound" suggesting "motion...without any visually perceivable movement" that "breaks the quiet stillness of a devastated, dead landscape". Pumzi is the essence of all these. Rafiki chronicles the story of two With the help of his goat friend and his spirits, who tell him his "dreams are enough", he continues to daydream. As a Sci-Fi fan, I would love to see more African Sci-Fi films. [16], The Wooden Camel is Kahiu's first children's book. Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window), Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window), Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window), Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window), Follow The EOFFTV Review on WordPress.com. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Asha breaks out of the inside community to go into the dead and derelict outside to plant the growing seedling and possibly find life on the outside. Wanuri Kahiu, “Pumzi” (“Breath”) (2009) Just over 20 minutes long, this movie short from Kenya is set in a post-apocalyptic future where a global war has rendered the surface of the Earth dangerously radioactive and completely barren and water has all but disappeared. ( Log Out /  Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. After a painful trek through the desert Asha’s quest seems to end in disappointment but a final twist suggests that she is far more important to the future of the planet than even she might have suspected. "[4], Critique of non-governmental organizations, 'rafiki': The First Kenyan Film To Premiere At Cannes, Banned At Home, Director Wanuri Kahiu, Kenya's Rising Star, List of female film and television directors, List of LGBT-related films directed by women, "The Africa Movie Academy Award (AMAA) Nominations for 2009", https://www.npr.org/2019/04/20/715533608/rafiki-the-first-kenyan-film-to-premiere-at-cannes-banned-at-home, https://2020owovfest.org/director-wanuri-kahui-kenyas-rising-star/, "Rafiki - LFF 2018 Review - One Room With A View", "Science fiction has ancient roots in Africa.