In celebration of Women’s History Month and the 60th Anniversary of Jamaica’s Independence, we are delighted to shine our Member Spotlight on Nyasha Laing and her 2022 film “Kumina Queen.”

We are excited that the film team selected Hera Hub DC to host one of their community screenings here in Washington, D.C.  We feel that the film will serve as a conduit to other thought-provoking narratives around the role of rituals created and sustained by women of color and cultural communities. Through shared stories, dance and music, and the common thread of the search for ancestry, this film offers to help facilitate conversations around healing, representation, and transformation in cross-cultural venues.

About Kumina Queen, a documentary film by Nyasha Laing (55 min)

Imogene “Queenie” Kennedy was a contemporary priestess in post-colonial Jamaica who catapulted her African spiritual practice into renown. But what is Queenie’s legacy today? For artists and followers, exploring her mysterious spirit world can reveal divergent pathways to freedom, healing, and transformation.

About Nyasha Laing

Nyasha is a documentarian, writer, and lawyer focused on transformative stories of global leaders, cultures, and communities. Her independent storytelling credits include Punta Soul (2008) and Kumina Queen (2022), two films that explore themes of loss, regeneration, and freedom. In addition, she has served as an impact producer for award-winning PBS films including Tell Them We Are Rising (2017), All Kinfolk Ain’t Skinfolk (2018), Belly of the Beast (2020), and Into Dust (2021). Nyasha is a graduate of Yale University and New York University School of Law.

“Kumina Queen” is sponsored by Women Make Movies (WMM). Below is more information about this organization:

“Founded in 1972 by Ariel Dougherty and Sheila Paige with Dolores Bargowski, Women Make Movies spent its first decade fulfilling a mission to teach women to become filmmakers, successfully training hundreds of program alumna. In the decades since, this early work has grown into a flourishing suite of international partners and programs, a catalog of nearly 700 films, and a renowned roster of alumna including Jane Campion, Julie Dash, Sally Potter, Trinh T. Minh-ha, Lourdes Portillo, Tracey Moffatt, Valie Export, Kim Longinotto, Pratibha Parmar, Ngozi Onwurah, and Ulrike Ottinger.”

Please consider making a donation to WMM to support filmmakers like Nyasha through their donation portal here. WMM is a 501(c)3 organization.

To learn more about WMM, click here.

We are hosting a private screening event on Friday, March 25, 2022, from 6:00 – 8:00 pm. Access to the event is by invitation only. Please email Julia@herahub.com for an invitation.