Rungano Nyoni

Rungano Nyoni is a Zambian-Welsh director, screenwriter and actress. She is best known for her feature-length films I Am Not a Witch and On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, both of which she wrote and directed. Both films received extensive international accolades. I Am Not a Witch won Nyoni the BAFTA for Outstanding Debut in 2018. On Becoming a Guinea Fowl earned her the 2024 Cannes Film Festival's Best Director - Un Certain Regard (Ex-aequo) award. Quotes I've just finished shooting my first feature film in Zambia. I am now in post-production and gearing to finish it in May this year. Fingers crossed. The idea of working in cinema was the reason I applied. When I did apply, I was interested in being an actress, but by the second year I knew I wanted to be a director and I think my acting classes helped me become a better director. I learnt how to write and direct through learning how to act. Rungano Nyoni All of them. Every scene has a synopsis, and I basically had to throw away the dialogue. You have a synopsis, and you have where it needs to go next, and where it comes from. It’s great, because everyone is natural. Director Rungano Nyoni on her Zambia-set debut I Am Not a Witch The film isn’t completely realistic, but I think it captures something of that reality.' Director Rungano Nyoni on her Zambia-set debut I Am Not a Witch Rather than getting an actor to act, it’s easier to get a non-professional who’s like the character. Director Rungano Nyoni on her Zambia-set debut I Am Not a Witch You have naturalistic performances but very little control over how it’s going to end up.' Director Rungano Nyoni on her Zambia-set debut I Am Not a Witch I was trying to get people closer to our humour, which is cruel, but therapeutic, in a way.' Director Rungano Nyoni on her Zambia-set debut I Am Not a Witch When I wrote this film, I was very a Director Rungano Nyoni on her Zambia-set debut I Am Not a Witchngry: Life is so unfair. There’s so much injustice!'” quote People engage with the subject better through humour than through telling them, ‘This is bad. Director Rungano Nyoni on her Zambia-set debut I Am Not a Witch They’re free from being persecuted and harmed…but they’re not free within the camp. Director Rungano Nyoni on her Zambia-set debut I Am Not a Witch I thought, ‘Oh my God, these goats are literally more free than these women. Director Rungano Nyoni on her Zambia-set debut I Am Not a Witch ‘I was making decisions based on how is this going to come across as a woman…of colour. Director Rungano Nyoni on her Zambia-set debut I Am Not a Witch ‘I had to wonder if me being so insistent was going to sabotage my future. Director Rungano Nyoni on her Zambia-set debut I Am Not a Witch It’s always hard to know why people aren’t listening. Is it because I’m a woman? Because I’m not white?' Director Rungano Nyoni on her Zambia-set debut I Am Not a Witch This is what it’s like being a woman: you say things, and you say them again. Director Rungano Nyoni on her Zambia-set debut I Am Not a Witch “I’m more nervous than anything … it’s waiting to see it in front of an audience. That either reassures you or makes you even more nervous, so I think that’s when I’ll know. I Am Not a Witch director Rungano Nyoni: ‘The chief Whatsapped his people to find our star Very, very similar in terms of being super laidback and what you see is what you get. There is no pretence, there’s no trying to figure out what someone is telling you … Thank God my mum didn’t get to London!” I Am Not a Witch director Rungano Nyoni: ‘The chief Whatsapped his people to find our star That’s a choice I feel like I, as a woman, make all the time I Am Not a Witch director Rungano Nyoni: ‘The chief Whatsapped his people to find our star It’s not the belief that I’m against, or that I question, because spooky things happen all the time in Zambia. It’s that the witch accusations, are always aimed at older women or children. This is the bit I find absurd.” I Am Not a Witch director Rungano Nyoni: ‘The chief Whatsapped his people to find our star I think, if you cast right, kids are the best to work with because they don’t think about it too much. That’s why the thousand kids. I Am Not a Witch director Rungano Nyoni: ‘The chief Whatsapped his people to find our star External links Category:Actresses from Zambia Category:Living people Category: women Category:directors