Wanuri Kahiu
Wanuri Kahiu (born 1980 in Nairobi ) is a Kenyan film director.
Life
Kahiu holds a bachelor's degree in management from the University of Warwick and then a master's degree in film from the University of California in Los Angeles .
Kahius' career as a director began very successfully, especially in 2008. Her first feature film was made in 2008 with From a Whisper . The film deals with the terrorist attacks on the United States' embassies in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi in 1998 and was recognized in numerous categories at the African Movie Academy Awards in 2009, including “Best Film”. In 2009 she shot For Our Land , a television documentary about the Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize laureate and environmental activist Wangari Maathai . In the same year she released the science fiction short Pumzi , which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival .
Her second feature film Rafiki was only released in 2018 after years of searching for funding, filming and post-production. The film is about a lesbian love affair between two young women in Nairobi, was initially banned in their home country due to the subject matter and the legal situation of homosexuality in Kenya ; however, after Kahius lodged a complaint with the highest court in Kenya, the ban was lifted. The film was the first Kenyan film to be shown at the Cannes International Film Festival .
The success of Rafiki enabled her to move to Hollywood . Kahiu will direct an adaptation of Ali Benjamin's youth book The Thing About Jellyfish, starring Millie Bobby Brown .
She is committed to the promotion of young, light and dynamic African art. She is co-founder of the media network Afrobubblegum . In 2017 she gave a TED talk about young African art.
Awards
- African Movie Academy Award 2009 for Best Director for From a Whisper
- Cultural Leader of the World Economic Forum 2018
- OkayAfrica 100 Women 2018
Filmography
- 2006: Ras Star (short film)
- 2008: From a Whisper
- 2009: For Our Land
- 2009: Pumzi (short film)
- 2018: Rafiki
Web links
- Wanuri Kahiu in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Rafiki. Edition Salzgeber, accessed on March 23, 2019 .
- ↑ Millie Bobby Brown, Filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu Tackling 'The Thing About Jellyfish' for Universal (Exclusive). In: The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 23, 2019 .
- ↑ Wanuri Kahiu | Speaker. In: TED. Retrieved March 23, 2019 .
- ↑ Wanuri Kahiu. In: OkayAfrica. Retrieved March 23, 2019 (American English).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Kahiu, Wanuri |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Kenyan film director |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1980 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Nairobi |