FILMMAKER . WRITER . SPEAKER

Wanuri Kahiu is an internationally acclaimed Kenyan filmmaker, writer, and speaker, celebrated for her visionary storytelling rooted in African joy, imagination, and resilience. She earned a BSc (Management Science) before joining the MFA program in Film Directing at UCLA.

Her latest achievement is Washington Black (2025), an eight-episode Hulu historical fantasy series adapted from Esi Edugyan’s novel. As producing director and executive producer, she guided the series to a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, praised for its rich visuals and nuanced storytelling. In 2022 she directed Look Both Ways on Netflix, a romantic dramedy starring Lili Reinhart, David Corenset and Danny Ramirez, alongside Nia Long and Luke Wilson. Wanuri is set to direct Disney’s live-action adaptation of the musical Once on This Island, based on Jocelyn Bioh’s screenplay and produced by Marc Platt, infusing her Afrofuturistic sensibility into a mythic Caribbean tale.

Her foundational films include Rafiki (2018), the first Kenyan feature to screen at Cannes, celebrated for its tender, defiant love story between two Kenyan women despite being banned in Kenya, From a Whisper (2008), which won five Africa Movie Academy Awards including Best Director and Best Picture and Pumzi (2009), a dystopian Afrofuturist short premiering at Sundance and exhibiting in major art institutions worldwide. Wanuri is a member of the Writers Guild of America (WGA), the Directors Guild of America (DGA), and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Director’s Branch. She also served on the Academy’s Executive Committee on International Films. In 2025, she was appointed juror for the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival, and has also served on the jury of Sørfond, the Norwegian South Film Fund, supporting artistic freedom and global cultural diversity

Her ethos is rooted in AfroBubbleGum, a creative philosophy she co-founded that celebrates joyful, bold African art. Through film, writing, and public speaking, she repeatedly reimagines the future of African storytelling, shaping cinema that embodies empowerment, cultural imagination, and global significance.