Kikuyu Land documentary premieres at Sundance Film Festival

Uncovering Hidden History at Sundance

Screening in the World Cinema Documentary Competition, Kikuyu Land addresses a contentious land battle stemming from the colonial era. Wangondu knew the gravity of the subject from the start. I knew it’s not a small story, I knew it had to do with colonization, Wangondu told the Festival audience at Park City’s Yarrow Theatre, according to coverage from the event. I knew it was a big story, and I’d seen what he’d done previously, so [I said], ‘Let’s do the story,’ and this is what we made.

The film opens with Stephen, a young boy living on a Kenyan tea plantation, who reflects on personal identity by stating that everyone maintains two stories—one visible to the world and one kept hidden. Directors Wangondu and Brown use this framing to examine Kenya’s colonial past. Early scenes juxtapose archival footage of Sir Evelyn Baring, colonial governor of Kenya from 1952 to 1959, discussing agricultural development with aerial shots of modern Nairobi. A radio bulletin in the film highlights a new court ruling giving citizens a limited window to file historical land injustice claims with the National Land Commission, creating a legal avenue for compensation.

Ancestral Claims and Corporate Plantations

For the Kikuyu people, land represents identity. Ancestral properties now house extensive tea plantations controlled by multinational corporations and wealthy Kenyan elites. The documentary features Mungai, an engineer who estimates that the land taken from his family by white colonizers holds a modern value of $967 million. You cannot fathom this unfairness, Mungai states in the documentary. You cannot actually put it in better words.

Mungai spent years petitioning the National Land Commission to recover his family’s property without success. He agreed to appear in the documentary despite personal risks, viewing the screen as a vital outreach tool. Why don’t I have another megaphone to make my story loud? Mungai said during the festival premiere. He noted that previous attempts to engage international outlets like CNN and the BBC, as well as local broadcasters, yielded silence.

Origins of the Directorial Partnership

Wangondu and Brown met in 2021 while working on assignment for National Geographic, where Wangondu managed logistics and production for visiting Western crews. Brown recognized her leadership and urged her to shift roles. I remember making calls back to New York, and saying, like, ‘Why the hell are we sending in producers and directors from New York? We have Bea over here. She can run the whole thing,’ Brown recalled. After encouragement from Brown, Wangondu pitched the collaboration.

Production relied heavily on local figures like Mungai and Joseph Njenga, a self-described tea child who grew up on a plantation and serves as a producer on the film. Njenga helped the directors secure access to film young Stephen on the plantation. During the post-screening Q&A session, Njenga emphasized the communal nature of the project: It’s amazing how there is power in a people. I’ve been part of a community. As I say in the film, I’m a tea child. But that identity is just that in itself. But when you have outside people who come and see a different light of things, now you’re able to realize that you’re not alone.