Nikyatu Jusu is a Sierra Leonean-American writer and director. Her 2022 feature-length debut NANNY, starring Anna Diop and Michelle Monaghan premiered at Sundance Film Festival and won the Grand Jury Prize. Her previous film, the short Suicide by Sunlight, follows Valentina, a day-walking vampire (Natalie Paul) protected from the sun by her melanin, who is struggling to regain custody of her estranged daughters. Jusu is also known for her critically acclaimed short films Flowers, Say Grace Before Dying, Black Swan Theory and African Booty Scratcher.
Films
NANNY
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(2022)
In this psychological fable of horror, Aisha, a woman who recently emigrated from Senegal, is hired to care for the daughter of an affluent couple 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 U.S., 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.
Suicide by Sunlight
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(2019)
Protected from the sun by her melanin, a day-walking Black vampire in New York City struggles to balance her job as a nurse, her relationship with her estranged children, and her bloodlust.
Flowers
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(2015)
A revenge plot spirals out of control as two Brooklyn teens maneuver a summer day they'll never forget.
Black Swan Theory
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(2011)
A psychiatric casualty of war recently returned to the US, Sonya's imagined sense of normalcy crumbles around her. Struggling for money, she agrees to execute a "murder for hire" assignment with dire consequences.
Say Grace Before Drowning
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(2010)
After meeting her African refugee mother for the first time in six years, 8-year-old Hawa is forced to coexist with a woman teetering on the brink of insanity.
African Booty Scratcher
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(2007)
Prom nears and things seem to be spiraling out of control for the typically composed Isatu. In this coming-of-age story, West African tradition conflicts with American idealism as Isatu is forced to reassess her idea of the perfect dress.
