“Sometimes you find the story and sometimes the story finds you.”
Wanjiru Njendu
Killer Shorts is very honored to bring you the newest interview in the Women in Horror series, with the talented writer~director~producer Wanjiru Njendu. Originally from Kenya, Wanjiru finds inspiration for writing in the duality of her worlds. Wanjiru’s storytelling is incredibly powerful and immersive, particularly in her horror short, Boxed. She was honored to find Boxed featured in the African Movie Academy Awards and the Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema. Audiences will certainly be compelled by Wanjiru’s work, because as she puts it, “I want to make a film that sparks conversation.”
Wanjiru took on a compelling, fictionalized short film, based on the true story of Henry “Box” Brown, an enslaved man who mailed himself to freedom in 1849, shot as a psychological thriller, in Boxed. The film has built-in horror and thrill, as Wanjiru puts the audience inside the box with Henry. It’s a compelling and immersive experience that leaves you thinking well after you leave a viewing. Wanjiru is careful in choosing if she is the right person to tell a story, and she made Boxed with a well-thought process and complete awareness. With encouragement from the wonderful Women of Color Unite, helmed by Cheryl Bedford, Wanjiru directed Stray for Hulu’s Bite Sized Halloween. Finding the humor in situations, Wanjiru blends genres with her most recent project ReGhost, a horror-comedy film. I really enjoyed speaking with Wanjiru as she has a strong outlook on her role as a storyteller. Check out my interview with Wanjiru Njendu where she also shares her experience with her manager and agents.
Conversations with Wanjiru
Where did you grow up and where do you currently reside? Has this had an impact on your writing or storytelling as a whole?
I grew up in Kenya and came to the US for film school and stayed once I graduated. The duality of my worlds definitely affect me as a writer and filmmaker. I am able to straddle multiple worlds and I feel it has given me an out of the box way of looking at how I tell stories.
What was your first memory with the horror genre? Did you know from the get-go this was the genre you wanted to create in?
My first clear memory of horror was Nightmare on Elm Street and we had just moved into a new home so double horror. I like to create in all genres and I like that I seem to have a knack for horror and want to nurture but I will admit to being a big sci-fi buff. But I love that those are two genres that blend which films like Event Horizon, The Fly, The Mist, Attack the Block all have shown.
To be honest I think I would be very content constantly genre blending or bending.
What was the thing that got you started as a storyteller? Were you influenced by a particular filmmaker, piece of media, or your environment?
E.T was definitely the one that started it all. I think everyone knows that about me from when I was a very young child. Once I recognized that the director was Steven Spielberg I immediately sought out all his work. Another one that impacted me was The Goonies. I really want to make an adventure caper off-the-wall type of film like that one.
What was the inspiration for BOXED?
Sometimes you find the story and sometimes the story finds you. As a director, I always want to make a film that is not only very stylized but that sparks conversation, as a person I want my stories to say something about Humanity. While Boxed was sparked by a conversation with Karyn Parsons about Black History, it is also very relevant to the present day where migrants are being sold as slaves in Libya and the present environment and hostility in the country. The Only Thing Necessary for the Triumph of Evil is that Good Men Do Nothing. I latched onto the idea of telling Henry’s story, but as a psychological thriller with the audience in the box with him for the duration of his trip. I thought inside the box.
BOXED is a compelling short film based on the true events of your main character Henry Brown in his efforts to freedom. What about this story inspired you to develop it into a short film?
At the time I was looking to fund a film out of pocket and I had a very specific vision for Boxed. I also have found that sometimes the stories that punch you in the gut are short films and I know I could get that impact out from keeping his journey tight and concise and leaving the audience gasping. I couldn’t shake the idea of what he must have gone through and faced to get to the other side of freedom and the mental strain it put on him. This affected Henry and he was a traveling actor/ magician and one of his tricks was reenacting escaping from a box. It makes you wonder what it broke in him. I don’t think I would ever have wanted to see another crate ever in my life again.
Much of the film takes place inside the box, allowing for the claustrophobic aspects to instantly immerse you in the thrill & horror of it all. The jarring visuals & intense sound design only heighten that feeling. What message did you hope to portray to the audience when developing the intensity, and putting the audience right there with the character?
Very often society forgets that they can very easily become us. I chose to make Boxed the way I did to remind the audience as they watched and experienced what Henry Box Brown went through, that we are accountable when we stand aside. Whether in the past or the present, if we stand aside we are part of the problem. Boxes and chains can be both physical and mental. There is a safety as an audience when the fourth wall is intact and while you are watching the film, the experience is watered down and you get to go back to your regular life. I wanted to keep the audience in those moments not just in the theater but after, where you are doing a mundane task and realize all the freedoms you have in that moment.
BOXED has been recognized by a myriad of festivals from the African Movie Academy Awards to the Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema where you were awarded an award for excellence in screenwriting. Has your experience in festivals given you a boost, or extra confidence, as a writer/ director? Does this experience solidify, for you, your place as a writer?
Boxed has had a really great festival run, over 100 film festivals, a number of educational screenings, and is still going. We started our festival run in July 2018 and we are still playing all through 2021. It has been an incredible honor getting to reach so many people. I knew I had something special in how my crew and cast connected to the script and when I first showed them the film once it was done. They were part of it and they were silent for a moment after. My Editor told me she cried cutting one scene and I had to take a moment on set on the same scene. The festival run has reminded me in a good way that I can tell good stories and that definitely pushes me to think about how to elevate my stories and characters.
You can rent Boxed on Vimeo on Demand. Watch the trailer below.
We know horror as a genre is not typically forgiving towards all people, particularly Women of Color, did you have the hope to be a part of that change? Or were you inspired by horror as a creative outlet?
I always approach a project by asking myself, ‘can I tell this story and can I do it justice?’ I want to get deep down to the meat and bones of each character and what is happening to them as well as what forms them and informs them.
To be honest I also just focus on the fact that a lot of really bad and negative experiences happen to Women of Color. And across ethnicity and gender, a lot of experiences are unfortunate for Women of Color, and they can relate.
I honestly believe we are actually some of potentially the strongest voices to be in horror. It takes incredible strength to be a Women of Color filmmaker and to be able to not only hone your voice when odds are against you but hold your ground on specific stories.
I do hope to be part of that change and I try as much as possible to hire on productions as much as I can or mentor where I can.
We are really able to step outside a place of comfort in the horror genre. As a filmmaker in this genre, are you motivated by being able to tell jolting, deep-rooted stories in the realms of this genre?
I really want to get more into the sci-fi, supernatural world. And definitely want to dip into a racy comedy that will have people clutching their pearls. I have 2 deep-period drama stories I want to tell and would love to do a biopic on an incredible activist Wangari Mathaai who I looked up to growing up.
You directed STRAY for Hulu’s Bite Sized Halloween. How did that opportunity come about? How do you approach the project as solely the director, as opposed to writer/ director?
The opportunity to pitch Stray came via Women of Color Unite.https://wocunite.org/
WOCU is an amazing organization helmed by Cheryl Bedford who is constantly banging open doors. When an exec at Fox Digital Studios, now 20th Digital Studio (acquired by The Walt Disney Company) asked what he could do more to support, she challenged him and his team to listen to pitches from over 30 women for the Bite Size Shorts program. Out of that Stray and another film was selected.
I have actually directed quite a bit of other people’s writing so I have a sort of system to it now. Boxed was a return to my directing what I wrote. For Stray I also knew the writer Peres Owino and once she worked out the story of Black Girls being taken, we decided on the Pied Piper myth, a story we were both familiar with to create both the backstory and the villain. I am very collaborative as a director and like to hear other’s ideas then work out which I am implementing without changing the goal of the story and which can blend.
I like to ask questions and push on what motivations are so we have a clear answer for everything with each beat of the story. I actually think if I didn’t love directing as much as I do, I would be pretty decent development executive.
Watch Stray on Hulu. Watch the trailer below.
You are currently working on your next feature script ReGhost, a comedy-horror. Is there anything you can tell me about that project?
ReGhost is definitely a very bro-y film which I love. However the two leads are men of color which I can relate to having brothers and friends of color, it also enabled their friendship to have all these multiple layers to it. I call it a “comedy-horror road trip, wait why did we start this road trip again and who the heck are you man” type of story.
It was definitely inspired after watching Shaun of the Dead which is one of my all-time favorite movies and Attack the Block. Goodness now that i think of it I might really be a British man in an African woman’s clothing. (Laughing)
The project is a good space. Everyone who reads it loves it and it has gone out to my dream cast so holding my breath. But more importantly, as my mentor always says to me, It is a make-able film that takes the audience on a journey. You will find yourself rooting for the characters, laughing hard while also yelling at them as their inter-relationships evolve as well as a moment or two where you tear up.
What is your process mixing comedy & horror, two very different genres?
I actually think that is one of the strongest genres to blend. There are times when life has really happened to me and I find myself laughing because there is disbelief of that moment and what just happened to you. I think adulting is really a comedy-horror. We just don’t have boogeymen (wait….. Yes we do but we voted them out LOL) around each corner and in our basements.
I try to find that same balance when working on comedy-horror stories. I look to European films for inspiration as well. I think they handle the blending of these two genres very well.
What’s next for you? Are there any future projects you’d wish to share?
I signed with Melinda Jason for Management, the Gersh Agency and Independent Talent Group as my agents so I am in a new incredible space being able to pitch at levels I hadn’t before and more importantly boldly explore stories that I thought I would never be able to tell. There are a few things I can’t talk about yet, but definitely having a reason to smile more.
During the lockdown and pandemic I got back into photography which I had not done as much coz I feel like you are constantly hustling (Pre-pandemic life) and on survival mode. It was easy to forget the simple things that brought you happiness just for the sake of happiness. It has been fun curating pictures which I now have up on my photography Instagram: @ispiedwithmagicseye.
When you look back on your career, what is the message you hope audiences take away from your work?
Film, like life, is a journey. Good or bad it needs to be taken. And if along the way I can make you cry, laugh, jump, or simply one day want to be a director or be part of filmmaking in any way, I did my part.
The Killer Shorts Contest hopes Wanjiru’s journey as a writer, and filmmaker will be good inspiration for our winners, finalists, and future entries. I really enjoyed interviewing Wanjiru and hearing her story as a writer and filmmaker. Boxed is quite an authentic way of using the horror genre, as the horror is built into the historical account itself. By putting the audience in the box with Henry, Wanjiru has created a claustrophobic experience with intense visuals and sound design. I am most compelled by the message she leaves you with, “there is a safety as an audience when the fourth wall is intact, and while you are watching the film, the experience is watered down and you get to go back to your regular life. […] where you are doing a mundane task and realize all the freedoms you have at that moment.” As a big fan of comedy-horror, particularly Shaun of The Dead, I am very excited for Wanjiru’s current script, ReGhost. Wanjiru has an impressive career, thus far, and I can’t wait to see what else she does. It was a pleasure to speak with her as she knows exactly the type of storyteller she is and what she wants in her projects. Make sure to look out for her future work, because Wanjiru Njendu is a filmmaker worth following.
You can find out more about Wanjiru’s work on her website.
Wanjiru Njendu on Instagram.
Wanjiru Njendu on Twitter.
Rent Boxed here.
Boxed on Instagram.
Boxed on Twitter.
Stray on Instagram.
Stray on Twitter.
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Featured Image by Ieva Berzina.
