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
Anna Diop, Michelle Monaghan, Sinqua Walls, Morgan Spector, Rose Decker, Leslie Uggams
USA
2022
In English and Wolof with English subtitles
At SFU Woodward’s
At The Rio
Book Tickets
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Rebecca Horn – the Secret Life of Things
Rebecca Horn's extraordinary biography is interwoven with her surreal oeuvre. An essential document of one of the 20th century's most influential artists, Rebecca Horn – The Secret Life of Things celebrates the unsung legacy of a pioneering visionary.
Image: © Rebecca Horn
What Remains
Stuck in a big city in a mind-numbing domestic routine, a young poetess finds herself at crossroads when her role as a mother and wife starts to overshadow her identity as an artist.
School for Defectors
School for Defectors is an intimate and quietly uplifting documentary that follows a group of 20 teenagers, children of North Korean defectors, as they adjust to life and education at Jangdaehyun School in Busan, South Korea.
Fruit Gathering
Achingly sensual and graced with fine performances, Fruit Gathering depicts embattled desire in a conservative society. Two working-class women fall into a romantic relationship in contemporary Myanmar — but is their love real, or borne of desperation?
Short Forum 7: War at Home
Truly, no one is safe until everyone is safe.
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
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.