Genesis is a poetic reawakening of an origin story often passed down in whispers, stripped of its fullness, or lost to colonial rewriting. This short film reimagines the story of Mumbi, the revered mother of the Kikuyu people, not as a passive figure from oral tradition, but as a woman of agency, vision, and power, rooted in earth, time, and myth.
In Kikuyu cosmology, Mumbi, whose name means “the creator” or “one who shapes”, is one of the foundational ancestors alongside Gikuyu. Legend tells us that she and Gikuyu were placed on Kirinyaga (Mount Kenya) by the god Ngai and that they bore nine daughters, from whom the nine Kikuyu clans originate.
This film does not simply retell. It reclaims. Through lyrical narration, rich visual symbolism, and embodied performance,
Genesis explores Mumbi’s inner world, her relationship with land, motherhood, loss, resistance, and creation. The film interrogates the erasure of women from African origin stories and restores her place not just as a mother, but as a maker, guide, and voice of an entire people.
At a time when African identities are constantly reshaped by displacement, colonization, and modernization, documenting stories like Mumbi’s becomes urgent. Genesis challenges the historical silences and invites new generations to sit with the myths that shaped them, not as relics, but as living texts.