Her first feature film , '' From a Whisper '' , received a total of twelve nominations and earned five awards at the 5th Africa Movie Academy Awards in 2009 . The film fictionalizes the terrorist attack on the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi in 1998 . It tells the story of a young girl , Tamani , who loses her mother in the attack and is told by her father that her mother is missing when she is actually deceased . Tamani searches for her mother , painting hearts across the city , she also befriends a policeman named Abu . Abu helps Tamani as the viewers discover the shame he feels for not stopping his friend who helped attack the embassy . Film scholar , Clara Giruzzi highlights Kahiu 's display of an African feminist sensibility , displayed by the egalitarian relationships in the film , and the pacifist messages in the wake of national trauma , which challenge essentialist and universalist western perspectives of Africa
5th Africa Movie Academy Awards
5th Africa Movie Academy Awards
Wanuri Kahiu