The Spotlight: Pumzi (2009)

The Spotlight series takes a fresh look at works of climate cinema
By Akosua Owusu-Akyaw

Pumzi (2009), 22 min.

Dir. Wanuri Kahiu

Sitting at the intersection of cli-fi and Africanfuturism, Pumzi is an imaginative 2009 Kenyan short film directed by Wanuri Kahiu. The story is set in a futuristic country in Africa, where the once-flourishing natural ecosystem has gone extinct, leaving behind a desert landscape in which water is scarce and heavily rationed in the aftermath of World War III, dubbed the “Water Wars.” The audience watches as Asha, a curator for a museum that houses the only remains of the country’s now extinct flora and fauna, receives a mysterious box containing water-enriched soil–leading to the surprising sprouting of a fresh seedling, a confrontation with restrictive government forces, and a race to protect the first signs of external life in generations.

In a time in which we suffer from climate grief, when many of us feel nature speaking but can’t entirely say how or why, Pumzi hits close to home. In a reversal of roles, once Asha escapes to the outside world and plants the seedling, she uses her own sweat to provide water for the plant and her own body to shade it from the heat. She becomes the “mother of nature,” illustrating that there are fewer differences between humans, the environment, and our past and future than one might expect. In other words, we are all part of a sentient global ecosystem, in constant conversation with what we destroy and what we protect.

The director summarizes it best: “Pumzi is a visual ode to life. A life that… has within it that which is good, that which is beautiful and that which is love. Pumzi is the essence of all these. Pumzi is my breath.”

If you’re interested in watching an innovative short film that’s just as relevant now as it was in 2009, check out Pumzi at the link and follow director Wanuri Kahiu on her website or on Instagram.