Kumina Queen
- Directed by: Nyasha Laing
- Released: 2024 (educational)
- Year of Production: 2023
Imogene “Queenie” Kennedy was a contemporary priestess in post-colonial Jamaica who catapulted her African spiritual practice into renown. But after centuries of erasure, what remains of the dance between the living and the dead?
In the wake of the loss of her mother, the filmmaker travels into the heart of Jamaican countryside to research Kumina, an ancestral ritual. The ancient practice, she learns, is a driving force in Jamaica’s culture and identity, yet its leaders have historically been discarded as witches and criminalized. Jamaica’s post-colonial renaissance enabled Queenie to share her practice with the world. Today, Queenie’s mysterious world reveals a divergent pathway to freedom, healing, and transformation-for those who choose it.
Micheaux Film Festival
DC Caribbean Film Festival
Hairouna Film Festival
Images Film Festival
Capital City Film Festival
Images Festival
Denton Black Film Festival
NY African Diaspora Film Festival
Indie Memphis Film Festival
Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival
Nyasha Laing is an impact producer, creative documentarian, writer, and lawyer focused on stories of diverse cultures, leaders, and global communities. She is a Founding Partner at Red Owl, a boutique impact production company.
Her independent film, writing and impact work work have been featured in the Pan-African Film Festival, The Brooklyn Academy of Music, Indie Memphis, WOMEX and the Johannesburg Film Festival, and on digital platforms including NPR, WORLD, PBS, Yes Magazine, and the BBC World Service.
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