In the year 2093, a filmmaker named Kuve arrives in the fictional African nation of Umata, where generative AI has been used to digitally resurrect the continent’s ancient kingdoms. There, he meets Princess Mumbi, a magnetic young woman torn between royal duty and her dream of becoming an actress. As their encounter unfolds, Kuve is drawn into a layered triangle of memory, mythology, and authorship—one that quietly interrogates the role of technology in shaping historical narratives. What does it mean to revive the past with tools that never knew it?
Directed by Swiss-Kenyan filmmaker Damien Hauser, Memory of Princess Mumbi is a daringly self-reflexive debut that blends mockumentary, romantic drama, and political satire into a low-budget speculative fable. Entirely self-produced and built with digital worldbuilding tools, the film is less interested in prediction than in provocation. At its heart is a question that lingers long after the credits: Can storytelling remain sovereign in an age of artificial memory, or has the archive already been rewritten?
Shandra Apondi, Ibraham Joseph, Samson Waithaka, Michael Garama, Damien Hauser, Newton Ronnoh
Kenya/Switzerland
2025
English
At International Village
At Fifth Avenue
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Credits & Director
Producer
Damien Hauser
Screenwriter
Damien Hauser
Cinematography
Damien Hauser
Editor
Damien Hauser
Production Design
Damien Hauser
Original Music
Damien Hauser
Damien Hauser
Filmography: Blind Love (2021); Theo: Eine Konversation Mit Der Ehrlichkeit (2022); After the Long Rains (2024)
Spectrum
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