Preview: Nanny + Q&A 2022

Winner of the US Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival, Nanny is a mesmerising and captivating debut feature from Nikyatu Jusu. Aisha is an undocumented nanny in New York City caring for the privileged child of an Upper East Side family. Meanwhile, Aisha’s son remains at home in Senegal, as she tirelessly works to raise money for him to join her. As Aisha’s relationship with her employers gains complexity, so too does her connection to home, finding herself haunted by figures from West African folklore like the water spirit Mami Wata and the trickster god Anansi. What are these symbols trying to warn her about – her employers or something darker lurking within her own life? With a stunning and distinctive visual style, Jusu weaves together a complex and tense portrait of labour, privilege, and motherhood. Nanny is a remarkably accomplished first feature with a layered and compelling performance from Anna Diop at its centre.

This screening will be followed by a Q&A with Tanatsei Gambura, Sekai Machache and Dr Rama Salla Dieng, moderated by Sharon Thomas, Programme Producer for Africa in Motion.

About the Director

Nikyatu Jusu is an independent writer, director, and Assistant Professor in Film & Video. Jusu's short vampire film Suicide by Sunlight made its debut at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, garnering a prolific festival run. Nanny is Jusu's screenwriting and directing feature film debut and was selected for: the 2019 Sundance Institute Creative Producing Lab, the 2019 IFP Project Forum, and the 2020 Sundance Screenwriter's, and Director’s Labs. Additionally, Nanny was one of 35 projects selected for the 2020 Creative Capital Awards, and shortlisted for The Black List 2020. Jusu is the second Black woman director and Nanny is the first horror film to win the Sundance Grand Jury Prize (US Dramatic) 2022.