Born in Bonn in 1985, Philippa Ndisi-Herrmann is a Kenyan-German photographer and filmmaker. She is intrigued by the invisible boundary between individual and collective identities, and fascinated by the influence of ancestral memory, living space, and culture on our understanding of ourselves. She is drawn to Lamu, an Island in the Indian Ocean off the Kenyan coast, where “The Donkey that Carried the Cloud on its Back,” an ongoing feature-length documentary project, originates. She lives in Nairobi, Kenya, where she writes, cooks, paints, shoots, makes jokes, reads Rumi, and falls in love.

What is your first film memory?

It was “The Bear” by Jean-Jacques Annaud. I was maybe five. My mum had returned from the UK bearing gifts and brought me back the video. I watched it alone, captivated. The forest was entrancing, and the silent bears mystifying. I cried. I watched it a few times, not many, but that was the first time I was moved by a film – and perhaps the first time I understood a feeling, in this case, the sense of separation, of loss and aloneness through the film medium.

Why did you decide to become a filmmaker?

In my late teens, I realised that one of my purposes in life was to contribute to our greater understanding of humankind by sharing sentiments, feelings, and moments. I knew I was an artist, but I felt the media that I knew, words and drawings, did not suffice; film felt like a multi-sensory medium to convey a feeling. Film was tangible; you could hear, you could see, you could feel – it was real, the human story could be told and understood. Film, to me, is one of the strongest tools to create compassion. If only for a brief period, you can live another’s life – and this experience can deepen and change your perspective and understanding of life. More compassion is what the world needs, and film is a way of positively contributing to the greater human experience.

Which film do you wish you had made?

Many of Bergman’s, because he is a genius, and perhaps Walter Salles’s Central Station (1998) or Half-Nelson by Ryan Fleck.

However, I wish I had made “Biutiful,” as it embodies poetry and spiritualism. To me, the film explores the memories others have left behind and the memories we leave behind. Is it the love we have for others, or is it our memory and moments with them that make up our “souvenir” of them? I also liked the clash of antiquity and the real world. A wonderful film. After I saw it, I used to fall asleep to that film for many a night. It made me even more inspired to make films!

Name one of the films on your top-5 list and the reason why it is there.

I will say “Out of the Furnace.” It is exquisitely directed – we always know the character’s motivation, and the director Scott Cooper explores the complexities of conflict so well.

Paradise Love ( as well. I admire the film because of how Director Siedl seems to have observed the most minute details and presented them in such a way that is so strong and clear. The place where the film takes place is very familiar to me, it is a seaside resort town that I have been to many times as a child and adult. The dynamics of relationships between young local guys and middle-aged European women have been a source of fascination for me, so I appreciate how he explored this. What I liked about the film is how Siedl explores the ever-changing power play between the two characters and, of course, the way in which “power” and lack of power affect self-esteem.

I also like how Paradise Love touches on imperialism and addresses the hangover of sex and colonialism. Oh, and I love the way Siedl designs his shots. Most of his scenes are just one shot, sometimes only one take. Often locked off. Many of his shots are full of visual contrasts, and each shot is like a photographic portrait. The dialogue is crazy too, very real but crazy.

Ask yourself any question you think I should have asked and answer it.

Which are your favourite film scene or scenes? I will tell you two, off the top of my head, but from my heart; one from the perspective of a filmmaker and the other from the standpoint of a romantic, starting with the latter: When Édith Piaf and Marcel go on their first date in a fancy restaurant in Olivier Dahan’s “La Vie en Rose“ and fall in love at that table. I love the dialogue and editing; I love the way the filmmaker holds certain shots and the way the scene is told through Edith recounting the story to her best friend.  Dahan later references this scene toward the end of the film when Edith, in her old age, is interviewed by a young woman. Sublime and beautiful; touching and romantic!

From a filmmaker’s point of view, I pick the prologue to “Biutiful;” the scene in the white forest with Uxbal and the young man – everything in it is perfect and moving; the owl’s feathers blowing in the wind, the dialogue, the images, the intimacy and spiritual relevance.