Directed by Roy T. Anderson

Queen Nanny: Legendary Maroon Chieftainess documents the struggle for freedom by the Jamaican Maroons, led by the indomitable military genius, ‘Grandy’ Nanny. A spiritual leader, skilled in the use of herbs and ‘guerilla warfare’ tactics, from her mountain stronghold at the source of the Stony River in the Blue Mountains, she directed the warfare that effectively neutralized the vaunted British firepower.

Nanny symbolizes the pride of today’s Caribbean women. In fact, Jamaica’s first female and former Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, paid homage to Queen Nanny in her January 2012 inauguration speech, and continues to do so at every opportunity.  And although Maroons, who all proudly proclaim to be Grandy Nanny’s ‘pickibo’ (children), are appreciative that she was named National Hero in 1976, to them her historical importance is such that she is seen as a powerful, living, breathing presence for almost three centuries.

Shot in Jamaica, Ghana, Canada, and the United States over the course of two years, the documentary film features interviews and conversations with world-renowned scholars and present-day Maroons. We also engage a select group of women, to explore Queen Nanny’s impact on their lives, and how she has influenced them in their own pioneering work.

Presented in partnership with The Caribbean Film Academy