Nikyatu Jusu is an American independent writer, director, producer, editor and assistant professor in film and video at George Mason University. Her works center on the complexities of Black female characters and in particular, displaced, immigrant women in the United States. Her work includes African Booty Scratcher (2007), Flowers (2015), Suicide By Sunlight (2019).
She made her feature directorial debut with the horror film Nanny, which received the Grand Jury Prize at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, making it the first horror film to ever win this award at Sundance. It stars Anna Diop, Michelle Monaghan, Sinqua Walls, Morgan Spector, Rose Decker, and Leslie Uggams.
In this psychological fable of horror, Aisha (Anna Diop), a woman who recently emigrated from Senegal, is hired to care for the daughter of an affluent couple (Michelle Monaghan and Morgan Spector) living in New York City. Haunted by the absence of the young son she left behind, Aisha hopes her new job will afford her the chance to bring him to the US, but becomes increasingly unsettled by the family’s volatile home life. As his arrival approaches, a violent presence begins to invade both her dreams and her reality, threatening the American dream she is painstakingly piecing together.
The film was given a limited theatrical release on November 23, 2022, by Amazon Studios, prior to streaming on Prime Video. In a chat exclusively with News18, Nikyatu Jusu and Anna Diop break down the themes of the film. Excerpts:
What was your vision behind this film?
Nikyatu: I always hope with my work, that people are getting an entertaining way into a new lens, a new way of seeing the world and with a protagonist that traditionally is not centered. And so, you know, outside of that, just playing with the form and playing with what it means to make a horror film in these times and working with talented collaborators. These are all parts of the vision.
Anna, what was your understanding of the character of Aisha and was it easy to get into because you’re from Senegal, yourself?
My understanding of her was of a mother who will do absolutely anything for her child… Aisha is an educated woman, she’s very determined and she leaves Senegal for New York to build a better life for her son, but also for herself. And I relate to that very deeply because it’s my mother’s story. She emigrated also from Senegal, to New York, and then to Houston, for the same reasons as Aisha does. So it’s a very deeply personal story. It’s a woman I have essentially known my entire life. So it’s not that it was easy to do.
It brought up a lot of emotions that reminded me of that time during my mother’s life where, she had just moved and was trying to find her way and working these odd jobs to make ends meet. She first was braiding hair and then got into nannying.
Nikyatu, this is your first feature film, and to have screened at Sundance, won awards and then being picked up by Amazon so it reaches many countries, what’s the feeling like?
I’m still breathless. I’m glad you’re you all are saying my first feature because the phrase, ‘your first film’, erases all the short films that you made to get to this moment. I’m beyond thankful for this acknowledgement. I believe fiercely in my ability, but I don’t always believe in the industry and the system to acknowledge my ability. So it was really an amazing affirmation of not only my work, but the work of my collaborators.
Anna, any challenges that you faced while playing Aisha?
Just the challenge of having a role at this scale because Aisha is in almost every scene in the film. It’s so very daunting as an actor when you read a script like that. The biggest challenge was, can I really do this? Can I essentially help to carry this film throughout? Because she is in almost every scene. So that was the biggest challenge.
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