Not only is Nanny the first horror film to win that prize at Sundance, it’s only the second time a film with a Black female director has won it. Pretty remarkable considering it’s the debut feature from writer-director Nikyatu Jusu, who drew upon her own experiences as a Senegalese immigrant in crafting the story. According to the press release:
“Set in New York City, this fable of a Senegalese immigrant’s experience working for an affluent family is grounded in the real life experiences of domestic workers. The story is personal to Nikyatu Jusu’s upbringing, whose mother sustained her household with this occupation. Jusu incorporated spiritual genre elements that spoke to her lineage … At its core, Nanny is a genre-bending film that blends psychological horror with culturally relevant issues of social identity, including race, gender, and socioeconomic status.”
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Nanny stars Senegalese American actor Anna Diop (DC’s Titans, Jordan Peele’s Us), as well as Michelle Monaghan (Mission: Impossible – Fallout), Sinqua Walls (American Soul), Morgan Spector (The Gilded Age), Rose Decker (Mare of Easttown), and Leslie Uggams (Deadpool). It hits theaters on November 23, then arrives on Prime Video December 16.
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