Nnamdi Kanaga Releases First Teaser For Ọgbanje-Themed Supernatural Thriller, “Water Girl”

Ahead of its screening at the Caribbean Film Festival 2025, Nnamdi Kanaga has released the official teaser for Water Girl—a supernatural thriller inspired by the concept of Ọgbanje in Igbo mythology. The film follows the story of Kamsi, a teenage girl whose earthly existence is threatened by the spiritual circumstances of her birth.

The official synopsis reads: “The joys of motherhood are overshadowed by agony when Nkechi discovers that her daughter, Kamsi, is bound to the cyclical existence of the Ọgbanje—a spirit child trapped in the maze of life, death, and rebirth.”

Set in Montana, the United States, Water Girl stars Nollywood acts like Stella Damascus, who co-produces with writer-director Nnamdi Kanaga, Florence Onuma, and Kenneth Okolie. The cast also includes Black actors of African origin such as Moriyafaith Jackson who plays the lead role of Kamsi, and Oliver Haeden.

Water Girl addresses themes such as cultural heritage, motherhood, identity, loss and grief, and ecological concerns. Through its minimalist storytelling approach powered by metaphoric references and visual density, the film negotiates the politics of physical and metaphysical existence in a way that captures and appeals to experiences of Africans on the continent and in Diaspora.

According to Igbo cosmology, the Ọgbanje is a child with ties to the spiritual world established through their secretly buried treasure called Iyiuwa, allowing the child to be repeatedly born at will to the same parents or family. The Igbo term, which literally means “children who come and go” has been the subject of popular culture discourses, particularly in literature, having been depicted in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, Akwaeke Emezi’s Freshwater and Ben Okri’s The Famished Road.

Water Girl is an official selection for the Caribbean Film Festival 2025 which runs from June 11th – 15th, 2025, and the 23rd Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival 2025 which holds August 1st – 9th, 2025.

Watch the teaser for Water Girl.