Written and directed by Kevin Schmutzler and Tobias Schmutzler, co-directed by Vallentine Chelluget and Apuu Mourine, and co-written by Milcah Cherotich. In the remote Turkana region of Kenya, 13-year-old Nawi’s aspirations of higher education are shattered when her father plans to marry her off to a stranger to ensure the family a substantial amount of livestock. Starring: Michelle Lemuya Ikeny, Joel Liwan, Benson Ochungo Obiero, Ben Tekee, Michelle Tiren, Patrick Oketch, Marrianne Nungo and Nyokabi Macharia.
An element that stands out immediately with Nawi: Dear Future Me is the cinematography (by Klaus Kneist and Mwende Renata), the aesthetic is incredibly strong. It holds such a rich texture and enveloping colouring, and it’s consistent all throughout the film. They do a wonderful job of balancing that bright natural landscape with a darker colour palette, so it doesn’t feel one-noted. They find the variety and depth of the visual, which is satisfying to watch play out, as well as complementing the direction nicely.
The directorial style from Kevin Schmutzler, Tobias Schmutzler, Vallentine Chelluget and Apuu Mourine is another really consistent element. Considering there’s a number of different hands at the wheel, it feels in sync and constant, the tone and style never dramatically shift which serves the story well. There’s a compelling atmosphere of sadness mixed with the power of Nawi’s (Michelle Lemuya Ikeny) determination which makes for another greatly balanced element.
Michelle Lemuya Ikeny builds the heart of Nawi: Dear Future Me with such an enthralling emotional maturity and awareness way beyond her years. She’s clever, generous, caring, self-assured and has a strong fight within her. Ikeny’s performance is excellent, they really asked a lot of her to bring such a range to this portrayal, but she knocked it out of the park. She brings a perfect level of emotion, a fantastic amount of personality and she leads the story effortlessly.
Ikeny is well paired with Joel Liwan as her brother Joel, the two have a very sweet bond that is inevitably tested and it’s captivating to watch them figure out that impossible challenge. Nyokabi Macharia is another great addition as the caring teacher, all young girls need that sort of encouraging presence in their lives, to prioritise education and knowledge, to safeguard their future.
However, it can feel Nawi: Dear Future Me is aiming at a much younger audience, attempting to create a message about the horrifying prevalence of child brides in an educational manner. There’s value in that, but it does limit the power of the film, making it avoid the inherent harsher, violent nature of the topic. In that sense, it can come across as sanitized. It also struggles slightly in the middle to keep the momentum going, it slows down and loses steam, but it does strengthen again towards the end.
Nawi: Dear Future Me holds a very meaningful, poignant message about the mortifying number of child brides there are and continue to be around the world. It’s a necessary topic and does a lovely job of highlighting the importance of education and how many brilliant women’s minds are being lost to old-fashioned ideals of ‘tradition’ and ‘culture’. It’s led wonderfully by Michelle Lemuya Ikeny who gives a strong, compelling performance. It simply feels like it veered too far into educational territory, tending to choose the sentimental over the searing. It could have held more power and hit those harrowing notes with a bigger resonance, but it does still holds a moving message about rights, freedoms and protecting girls.
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