Akosua Adoma Owusu launches Kickstarter crowdfunding for the film adaptation of On Monday of Last Week, a short story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Photo Credit Jovan Speller

Akosua Adoma Owusu launches Kickstarter crowdfunding for the film adaptation of On Monday of Last Week, a short story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

For Immediate Release: June 1, 2016 

Ghanaian Production Company Obibini Pictures LLC Options Rights to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Short Story

Contact: Obibini Pictures LLC at obibini.pictures@gmail.com

Last year, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie granted Kenyan Mexican

actress, Lupita Nyong'o, the feature film rights to her novel Americanah . Now Adichie has granted director, Akosua Adoma Owusu the exclusive film rights for her company Obibini Pictures, LLC to produce On Monday of Last Week , an adaptation of a short story of the same name from Adichie’s collection, The Thing Around Your Neck.

“I was compelled to create a new work by adapting literature from contemporary African writers. The themes of race, liberalism, and sexuality in Adichie’s short story On Monday of Last Week resonated with my films on the ‘triple consciousness’ of the African immigrant as I transition between avant-garde cinema, fine art, and African tradition to complicate the nature of identity.” Akosua Adoma Owusu

Featuring Nigerian actress, Chinasa Ogubagu, in the lead role of Kamara, this film follows a Nigerian woman on her journey to self realization. Kamara takes on a nannying job caring for Josh, the five year old son of Tracy and Neil, an interracial couple living in an upscale urban home. Under Neil’s direction, Kamara settles into a routine of prepping Josh for an academic competition and feeding him the latest kids’ health craze. The noticeable absence of Josh’s mother, Tracy, and her occasional outbursts heard from her artist’s studio in the basement intrigue Kamara. Kamara’s growing curiosity is piqued when Tracy finally emerges from her studio one afternoon. The brief encounter causes Kamara to launch into an unexpected attraction, wanting nothing more than an excuse to see Tracy again.

On Monday of Last Week will be directed and produced by Akosua Adoma Owusu and Obibini Pictures, LLC. Obibini Pictures, LLC has produced award-winning films including Reluctantly Queer , which was nominated for the Golden Bear and Teddy Award at the Berlinale, Berlin International Film Festival in 2016, and Kwaku Ananse , which received the 2013 African Movie Academy Award in Nigeria for Best Short Film. Lead actress Chinasa Ogubagu recently starred in the Off Broadway play Sojourners , earning a nomination for the 2016 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play. M.anifest, acclaimed Ghanaian rapper and co founder of Giant Steps, a Minneapolis based interactive conference for creative entrepreneurs, will be the Music Supervisor for this production.

This film is created with support from the Guggenheim Foundation and supporters of On Monday of Last Week ’s production Kickstarter campaign.

On Monday of Last Week also reflects themes explored in previous works by the filmmaker, specifically identity and standards of beauty, including her award winning short Me Broni Ba (2009) and her forthcoming feature Black Sunshine. Me Broni Ba, investigates the fraught relationship between images of beauty and power; telling an emotionally resonant story of a young child's migration from Africa to the United States and her painful efforts to fit in. Black Sunshine, tells the story of hairdresser, Rosemary Konadu, and her 12 year old albino daughter, Coco. Rosemary longs to escape her frustrating African reality. She feels ashamed of birthing an albino child, and ironically, of her own blackness. Black Sunshine received support from Creative Capital, Tribeca All Access, IFP and the Berlinale World Cinema Fund.

Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/akosuadoma/on-monday-of-last-week-the-movie