“I really want to do
a love story”
- ‘Pumzi’ Director
Wanuri Kahiu
on New Ambitions
Wanuri Kahiu has been busy.
The Kenyan film director has been putting work since the critical success of her Focus Features Africa First short film Pumzi. Last month she gave a talk on the movie and Afrofuturism at NYC’s Parsons The New School of Design.
We had to snatch her up to discuss her own “futurism”! She talks to us about delving into adaptation screenwriting for the Nnedi Orokafor penned Who Fears Death to her participation in the exciting six-movie project headed by Djo Munga, producer and director of Viva Riva that will see the adaptation of modern literature from different parts of Africa. She gives us insight into these projects. And of course, love.
Afripopmag: So what are some of the things you are working on now and in the future?
Wanuri: At the moment I’ve been writing. We have the new film Who Fears Death that we are trying to write. It’s another science fiction movie. So that’s one of the focuses and directions that I am trying to take. I am also working with Steven Markowitz and Djo Munga – and Munga was the director of Viva Riva! - to create another movie. They are doing a series of films where they’ll be adapting six novels from around Africa, so we are just trying to figure out what novel we are going to adapt and move in that direction.
What has the writing process for Who Fears Death been like, especially because it is an adaptation?
I have never done an adaptation before. What’s great about it is that Nnedi [Okorafor], the writer, is highly available. She is as excited as I am about the script. She is helping with a lot of the back-story and going over the ideas that were going through her head when she wrote some of the scenes. But also she has been really giving in knowing that the book is going to change in its process from the book to the film. So all those things make it really exciting to write the script and be involved with someone in that way. You can see that as your baby is moving from one stage to another, ‘leaving you’ is part of the journey.
Some adaptations really differ from the original work, so how committed are you to staying as close to the book as possible?
We are keeping with what is essentially drawing us to the book. That is the spirit of the book. You keep the heart; you keep the characters; you keep part of the world that drew you to it and then you grow that world in a particular direction. But it is such a different process than just coming up with something off the top of your head, because you already have a pre-existing relationship with the characters. It is like meeting a new friend and trying to figure out, “ok, ok, why do I like you?” and trying to figure out who they are and how their journey goes.
Tell me about the project with Steven Markowitz and Djo Munga involving adaptations of six books from around the continent?
It’s really exciting. There’s been a very oral African tradition but there’s also been a big movement of the African literature tradition. There are a lot of stories that have been told that we all know about like Chinua Achebe or Ben Okri…we all know those. What Steve and Djo are doing is finding other books. Some are by well-known writers and some of them, like the ones I am looking for, are much smaller writers. They have had acclaim and have won prizes, but are smaller and modern. One of the decisions was not to do historical pieces in this program. It is about modern African literature and it’s an exciting things to be part of.
I know Steven from a while back. He is the executive producer of Pumzi, so we’ve worked together before. Making a film, like any creation, is like having a child. So you really want to choose your parents and no matter what happens, they’re in it for life. You cannot speak for a million years but you’re in it for life, no? That relationship lasts for as long as that film lasts. I am really excited about working with other film-makers that are a part of creating a modern Africa in film.
How modern are we talking? Some people call the 70s modern…?
No, no, no…these are contemporary works, maybe 90s plus. Most of the books we are adapting are contemporary pieces. Steven said he didn’t want anything from the 70s. I found something from the 70s earlier and he said that he didn’t want to do that.
I know you are working on the East African story, so how are you going about picking your choice?
Reading a lot and trying to figure out what I can adapt. But I really want to do a love story.
Really? Why?
There are very few love stories that come out of Africa. Love is portrayed in such brutal way sometimes and it’s not sensual or sexy. It’s usually very violent or apathetic. There hasn’t been a space for love, or there hasn’t been a space for making love. Those things are important because as far as I know, my greatest romances that happened in Africa were a result of the love that I know or a love that I am apart of. We love in a very gentle way and in a very practical way. It may not be public signs of affection…it may not be kissing in the street but there’s a very comfortable way that people love back home. There’s such tenderness in the relationships I’ve been in that have occurred as a result of the Africaness of them and I want to be able to show that.
It’s a while away before you begin filming but you get to portray East Africa. Thoughts on how you’ll go about that?
I want to portray it like I love it (laughs). I want to portray it like I care about the country. I really, really like my country, so making a modern piece about it is such…I want to show it in its glory. Any city I choose I want to show it in its glory. I want to recreate the joy. Right now, I am in New York and I have, “Oh my gosh! I am in New York” moments. When I am in Kenya, even now when I have been home since 2005, having lived outside for ten years, I still have moments of “Oh my gosh, I am so happy I am home.” I want to show those moments. And they are really simple. It’s the way two girls are playing on the side of the road. It’s the way people are cooking. It’s the way people are greeting you.
So having read through so much modern lit, any surprise or things that stood out to you?
There’s stuff I like but not necessarily stuff that I want to adapt. I am a huge huge huge fan of Yvonne Owuor and she was the Caine Prize winner in 2003. She wrote a short story called “Weight of Whispers” which is a beautifully told story about a Rwandese refugee family in Nairobi and how they adjust from being a rich family to being poor. And it is such a beautifully constructed story. So beautiful! That’s one of the stories I wanted to do and I thought really long and hard about doing that. Yvonne is someone I have wanted to work with because I love the way she thinks.
It had been surprising because I’ve started seeking out writers and getting to know them and I would love to co-create with them.
Any other writers you want to work with? You can name drop!
Yeah! One of my favorite bloggers out of Nairobi is Sue from Nairobi Nights. Absolutely! She is one of my favorite bloggers. And as a result, we’ve become friends because we just connected. So those relationships are forming and I would love to work with her as well. Not on “Nairobi Nights” but on other projects. I think she is an extraordinary woman.