Venice Days Premiere: ‘mumbi’ Director Damien Hauser Details AI-Assisted Editing, Vision for African Sci-Fi
VENICE, ITALY – Damien Hauser, director of Mumbi, discussed the extensive post-production process adn his creative approach to the film during an interview following its premiere at Venice Days. Hauser revealed editing and effects work spanned from February of the previous year until just weeks ago, driven by a unique, documentary-style shooting method yielding over 44 hours of footage.
“I started editing it in February last year,and I finished editing and the whole post just weeks ago,” Hauser stated. He described a particularly intense two-month period focused on visual effects, completing approximately 10 VFX shots daily. The sheer volume of footage,comprised of diverse scenes and conversations without repetition,allowed for important narrative versatility. “I feel I really wrote the film in editing,” Hauser explained, emphasizing the constant reshaping of the story to maintain audience engagement.
Addressing the film’s genre, Hauser clarified that Afrofuturism wasn’t a primary influence. “I didn’t think of it like that when I shot it. I don’t even know what kind of future the film is.I guess it is just an African sci-fi film.” He positioned Mumbi as an experiment, contrasting it with large-budget science fiction productions frequently enough constrained by commercial considerations. Hauser believes utilizing AI as a tool provided the freedom to create a highly specific and niche film.
He anticipates increased accessibility to AI will empower filmmakers to explore diverse sci-fi narratives. “In the future, as access to AI becomes easier, you can explore a sci-fi world so much more in different ways, which don’t have to attract everybody.” Hauser also expressed excitement about the future of African cinema, noting that films like Black Panther, while set in Africa, were produced outside the continent. “Africa itself, or filmmakers in Africa, never had the budget to make such a film, but I’m really looking forward to the films coming out of the continent in the future. Once people are able to tell thier own stories,there will be so many crazy stories,new stories,new perspectives.”