IN COMPETITION – BEST FICTION FILM
MEMORY OF PRINCESS MUMBI (dir. Damien Hauser, 2025)
Sat, Feb 21 · 7:00 PM · Capri Theater (Reception 6:00 PM + Screening + In-Person Q&A)
Switzerland / Kenya / Saudi Arabia | English | Fiction (science fiction / romance) — 79 min
Attendance: Director in attendance
Selected Awards: Venice (Giornate degli Autori, in competition; world premiere); Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF); BFI London Film Festival
Trailer: Watch trailer
In 2093, filmmaker Kuve travels to Umata to document the aftermath of a war that revived ancient kingdoms. There he meets Mumbi, who insists he make his film without relying on AI—forcing him to confront what authorship, memory, and truth might mean in a fractured world. As he searches for a new cinematic language, Memory of Princess Mumbi becomes a soulful sci-fi romance about craft, intimacy, and the beauty of small human moments.
Director: Damien Hauser is a Swiss-Kenyan filmmaker, writer, and director. Born in Zurich in 2001, he began making films as a child, studied filmmaking at SAE (2016–2020), and worked with the commercial production company FILME VON DRAUSSEN (2018–2020). His feature work has screened internationally; in 2024, he founded Hauserfilm.
