Acclaimed Kenyan filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu is set to make waves in Hollywood once again as she directs the upcoming Hulu TV series Washington Black, premiering this July.
Produced by Emmy Award-winner Sterling K. Brown, the eight-episode drama is based on Esi Edugyan’s acclaimed novel of the same name.
Wanuri co-directs the series alongside Mo Marable.
Washington Black follows the extraordinary journey of George Washington ‘Wash’ Black, a young boy born into slavery on a 19th-century Barbados sugar plantation. Played by Eddie Karanja, young Wash is forced to flee after a life-altering tragedy.
“A harrowing incident pushes Wash into a globe-spanning adventure,” the official synopsis reveals. “One that challenges everything he knows about family, freedom, and love.”
Wash finds a mentor in Medwin Harris, a free Black man living in Nova Scotia, portrayed by Sterling K. Brown. Together, they travel across continents as Wash begins to discover his true identity.
The story unfolds with Wash overcoming extraordinary odds, learning to imagine a life far beyond the brutal world he was born into. Ernest Kingsley Jr plays the older Wash, with a supporting cast including Lola Evans, Tom Ellis, Edward Bluemel, Charles Dance, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Shaunette Renée Wilson, Rupert Graves, and Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine.
The original novel was a literary sensation, winning the 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize and being named a New York Times Top Ten Book of the Year. It also made the shortlist for the Booker Prize, the Carnegie Medal for Excellence, and other major awards.
Wanuri, who gained global recognition for her bold film Rafiki and her Netflix feature Look Both Ways (2022), is quickly becoming a leading force in international storytelling.
She is also set to direct The Thing About Jellyfish and an Amazon adaptation of Octavia Butler’s Wild Seed, which she’s co-writing with Nigerian author Nnedi Okorafor.