The film is set in the East African region, 35 years after World War III, in a world with no water and toxic soil. The story is told through the eyes of Asha, a curator at a virtual natural history museum in the Maitu Community. This is a closed universe, overseen digitally, outside all life is destroyed. Water is the most important resource and urine and sweat are recycled. All citizens must generate energy on treadmills and rowing machines. One day Asha receives a strange package of moisterous soil in the mail, examines it and decides to plant a seed in it, regardless of her superior’s instructions. She has visions of natural life and swimming in a pool. And then she makes a fatal decision.
This film will be screened simultaneously at Unseen as part of our #Junction_Nairobi, followed by a shared discussion.
Wanuri Kahiu, born 1980 in Kenya. She is a fiction film director, producer, and author. After graduating in Management Science in England, she studied film production/directing at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her directorial debut was 2006 and meanwhile she has received several awards and nominations for her films. She is also the co-founder of AFROBUBBLEGUM, a media collective dedicated to supporting African art. Selected Filmography: RAS STAR 2006 (short film), FROM A WHISPER (2008), RAFIKI (2018), LOOK BOTH WAYS (2022).
