Film Review: Pumzi by Wanuri Kahiu
Lessons on Climate Change from the science fiction short film
If you are reading this then there’s a high chance you have come across the term ‘Climate Change’ before. However, a large number of people across the world don’t take this issue seriously, doubting the impending reality of what may come if we don’t take drastic action to mitigate the problem. Globally we’ve all felt the sporadic change in our climate and the distortion of our annual weather patterns and this has affected our lives in one way or the other.
So a large takeaway from this movie review should be the urgency to join the fight against climate change. If you’re a Nigerian, and the recent heat hasn’t cleared your ears…
Well, I hope and pray for your life.
The planet is fast changing, with temperatures hitting record highs, ice caps melting, and our ozone layer decreasing. It’s dark out there, yet social impact organizations are working to put Earth back on the scoreboard against ultimate extinction.
One way we may sensitize and hold people accountable is to utilize all means to disseminate the message, from educational seminars and programs to the usage of art forms such as painting, sculpture, music, and filmmaking.
This is why the film Pumzi is significant to this writer.
Wanuri Kahiu wrote and directed Pumzi, the Swahili word meaning “Breath”, a Kenyan science fiction short film. It was initially released in 2009 and follows Asha, the curator of the Virtual Natural History Museum, as she navigates life in East Africa’s dystopian, afro-futurist Maitu community. It places a female-led African civilization (however imaginary) at the heart of a sophisticated society, addressing issues and implementing inventive solutions, which is a bonus for me.
This film is set 35 years after Planet War III, often known as the Water War, when the planet is plagued by severe circumstances, a scarcity of water, and radiation worries. The town keeps all people behind its walls and runs on manual energy generation equipment that emits no pollutants. It’s a place of rationing and conservation; water is given in modest amounts each day, and pee and perspiration are recycled to be reused. Dreams are repressed, and contact takes place via technology rather than words.
It’s a world we’re not far from if we don’t take action, but Asha and the community have made peace with what they have. You might call them happy.
That is, until Asha receives a soil sample in the mail with high moisture content and no radiation, along with coordinates scrawled on the box it was sent in. A way back, she wonders, disobeying the council’s order to look outdoors with a compass in hand for that path back.
The film is set in a highly efficient society where every resource is used repeatedly to preserve human existence. It works, but it raises the question of what liberties are lost in body and mind as a result of continual surveillance and the utilization of personal waste as a resource. It’s also one in which the controlling institution has complete control over every activity of the community’s members, and in which fear, punishment and physical violence are utilized to “manage” scarce resources.
The manner of communication; the lack of words and feelings may indicate a degradation in the scope of true interpersonal interactions.
Asha’s closest interpersonal connection in this film is with the restroom attendant, which is depicted as wordless. Everyone completes their job, they do not engage until absolutely necessary (and without saying anything), and violation of the norm has serious penalties.
The film, in my opinion, argues that environmental stewardship defends the fundamental freedoms we enjoy.
We live in a world that is heading towards a brutal fight for existence, as depicted in this film, and that should worry us.
Overall, Pumzi is a beautiful short film, and I want to see it again soon.
