Skip to main content
Nanny film image, director Nikyatu Jusu

Nanny

This event has passed

Aisha (Anna Diop), an undocumented Senegalese immigrant, is hired as a nanny by an affluent, self-absorbed Manhattan couple (Michelle Monaghan and Morgan Spector). Recognizing that this may be her best opportunity to bring her son to America, this stranger in a strange land is willing to deflect the upper crust’s micro-aggressions, objectifications, and inept attempts at wokeness. What she’s less equipped to deal with are the predatory mermaids and trickster spirits that have manifested in both her dreams and waking world.

Equally inspired by West African folklore and North American socioeconomics, Nikyatu Jusu’s beguiling psychological drama ensnares you in its uncanny atmosphere, much like a spider might entrap a fly. Jusu’s deftness as a director is complemented by Diop, who evinces Aisha’s fierce survival instincts while also lending her a compelling vulnerability. The film’s ethereal elements are undeniably haunting, but it’s Nanny’s depictions of immigration’s dark realities that chill you to the bone.

 

U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic, Sundance 2022

Director
Cast

Anna Diop, Michelle Monaghan, Sinqua Walls, Morgan Spector, Rose Decker, Leslie Uggams

Credits
Country of Origin

USA

Year

2022

Language

In English and Wolof with English subtitles

Film Contact
18+

At SFU Woodward’s

19+

At The Rio

99 min
Award Winners Drama Women Directors

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

Misericordia

Dir. Alain Guiraudie
103 min

Edgy, eccentric, and unapologetically queer, this film goes from drama to comedy without putting a foot wrong. Sex and murder are the subjects, and writer-director Alain Guiraudie (Stranger by the Lake) mines them for suspense and outrageous laughs.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

The Stand

Dir. Christopher Auchter
95 min

This rousing doc explores a 1985 dispute over logging in the Haida Gwaii. Taking us from canny retrospective commentary to the thick of the action, director Chris Auchter employs animation and a wealth of archival footage to riveting effect.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Julie Keeps Quiet

Dir. Leonardo van Dijl
97 min

When her coach falls under investigation for inappropriate behaviour, a young tennis ace is thrown into turmoil. Her reluctance to testify about her experience puts her at odds with the club, her parents and her friends.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Resident Orca

Dir. Sarah Sharkey Pearce & Simon Schneider
97 min

Captured in Puget Sound in 1970, killer whale Lolita spent the next half century in a cramped tank in Seaquarium, Miami. The film follows a coalition of Lummi elders, animal lovers and philanthropists on a rescue mission to return her to the ocean.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Grand Tour

Dir. Miguel Gomes
129 min

A prizewinner at Cannes, the latest from the director of Tabu is a playful Asian travelogue, set in 1918 and now, in black and white and colour, a critique of colonialism, and a journey into the history of cinema itself.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

The Way, My Way

Dir. Bill Bennett
93 min

All manner of pilgrims flock to France and Spain to walk the 800 km Camino de Santiago. One such is Bill, a stroppy sexagenarian Australian filmmaker who's determined to do the Camino with minimal prep, a dickey leg, and no firm idea why.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Credits

Executive Producer

Maria Zuckerman, Ryan Heller, Michael Bloom, Jason Blum, Rebecca Cammarata, Bill Benenson, Nnamdi Asomugha, Laurie Benenson, Grace Lay, Sumalee Montano, Nikyatu Jusu, Chris McCumber, Jeremy Gold

Producer

Nikkia Moulterie, Daniela Taplin Lundberg

Screenwriter

Nikyatu Jusu

Cinematography

Rina Yang

Editor

Robert Mead

Original Music

Tanerélle, Bartek Gliniak

Director

Nikyatu Jusu headshot, Nanny director

Nikyatu Jusu

Writer/Director Nikyatu Jusu’s short film Suicide by Sunlight made its debut at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, garnering a prolific festival run. Nanny is Jusu’s feature film debut and won the Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Additionally, Nanny was one of 35 projects selected for the 2020 Creative Capital Awards, and shortlisted for The Black List 2020. In addition to filmmaking, Jusu is an Assistant Professor teaching directing and screenwriting.