African Women in Cinema Blog - Updates | Actualités 17.01.2020 - News around the Internet | Les infos autour de l’Internet

African Women in Cinema Blog

Updates | Actualités

17.01.2020

News around the Internet |

Les infos autour de l’Internet

Content | Contenu

Chinonye Chukwu

Tsitsi Dangarembga

Claire Diao

Khadidia Djigo

Maimouna Doucouré

Rahmatou Keïta

Marème N'Diaye

Pascale Obolo

Akosua Adoma Owusu

Chinonye Chukwu

Chinonye Chukwu to helm first two episodes of Lupita Nyong'o HBO Max Series "Americanah"

Source: Deadline.com by Patrick Hipes. 15 January 2020.

https://deadline.com/2020/01/chinonye-chukwu-americanah-director-lupita-nyongo-hbo-max-series-1202831886/

Tsitsi Dangarembga

Tsitsi Dangarembga: 'Reading Toni Morrison's Beloved Changed my life'

Source: Guardian.com 10 January 2020.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jan/10/tsitsi-dangarembga-books-that-made-me

Khadidia Djigo

Les Émissions CANAL+ Afrique

Claire Diao - TV s'est rendue au CanalOlympia Téranga de Dakar pour rencontrer sa directrice Khadidia Djigo

Source: Les Emissions CANAL+ Afrique Facebook Videos. 06 January 2020.

https://www.facebook.com/emissionscanalplusafrique/videos/461228978161992/

Maimouna Doucouré

Netflix Buys World Rights to Maimouna Doucouré’s Sundance-Player ‘Cuties’ - (Mignonnes)

Source: Variety.com by Martin Dale. 14 January 2020.

https://variety.com/2020/film/global/netflix-buys-world-rights-to-maimouna-doucoures-sundance-player-cuties-1203467013/

Rahmatou Keïta

Tête à tête avec Rahmatou Keïta

Source: Cameroon-tribune.com by Maimounatou. 07 janvier 2020.

https://www.cameroon-tribune.cm/article.html/30184/fr.html/CT-article

Marème N'Diaye

Les Émissions CANAL+ Afrique

Claire Diao - TV a rencontré l'actrice sénégalaise Marème N'Diaye actuellement en tournage sur l'île de Gorée, à Dakar

Source: Les Emissions CANAL+ Afrique Facebook Videos. 15 January 2020.

https://www.facebook.com/emissionscanalplusafrique/videos/505709106965048/

Pascale Obolo

Rencontre avec Pascale Obolo, cinéaste et fondatrice de la revue d’art Afrikadaa
« On ne peut plus continuer à parler de nous, sans nous ! »

Source: 9lives-magazine.com. 14 janvier 2020

https://www.9lives-magazine.com/48413/2019/01/14/rencontre-avec-pascale-obolo-cineaste-et-fondatrice-de-la-revue-dart-afrikadaa-on-ne-peut-plus-continuer-a-parler-de-nous-sans-nous/

VIDEO

Akosua Adoma Owusu

White Afro Trailer by Akosua Adoma Owusu

https://vimeo.com/348566057

Synopsis
A barber school haircut training video on how to give a white person an "Afro" hair-do.

The final film in Owusu’s hair trilogy, White Afro (2019), employs an archival instructional video produced by the educational department of the Barbers, Beauticians, and Allied Industries Association on how to offer curly perms or body waving services to their white clientele, ostensibly for financial gain. The training video is intermingled with Owusu’s mother’s experience working as a hairstylist at a predominantly white hair salon called Fantastic Sam's in Alexandria, Virginia. Offering a rare perspective on the Afro hairstyle—as an unmistakable marker of Black collective power that becomes a desirable, and appropriated, aesthetic during liberation movements—the film also expands on the abilities of non-Black beauticians and barbers to wield their shops as spaces for political change. -- CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts

White Afro Trailer by Akosua Adoma Owusu from Obibini Pictures LLC on Vimeo.

African Women in Cinema Blog: Updates | Actualités 19-01-2018 News around the Internet | Les infos autour de l’Internet

African Women in Cinema Blog

Updates | Actualités

19 Jan 2018

News around the Internet |

Les infos autour de l’Internet

Content | Contenu :

Cheryl Dunye

Kagendo Murungi
Akosua Adoma Owusu

Ngozi Onwurah

Cheryl Dunye

Cheryl Dunye: Blurring Distinctions . 21 January 2018. Indiana University. 

Kagendo Murungi 

The passing of Kagendo Murungi, producer of documentary films, and collaborative creative community spaces for social justice and peace. Outright International. 

Akosua Adoma Owusu

Mahogany Too by Akosua Adoma Owusu, Official Selection, International Film Festival Rotterdam 2018. The film interprets the 1975 cult classic, Mahogany, a fashion-infused romantic drama. Vimeo.

Ngozi Onwurah

Pioneer of black British cinema Ngozi Onwurah’s work features at 2018 London Short Film Festival. The British Black List. 

VIDEO :

Akosua Adoma Owusu: Mahogany Too

Mahogany Too by Akosua Adoma Owusu - Trailer from Obibini Pictures LLC on Vimeo.

African Women in Cinema Blog : Updates | Actualités 23-06-2017 News around the Internet | Les infos autour de l’Internet

African Women in Cinema Blog

Updates | Actualités

23 – 06 – 2017

News around the Internet |

Les infos autour de l’Internet

Content | Contenu :

Ngozi Onwurah

Les Tibeb Girls de Bruktawit Tigabu

Danai Gurira

Issa Rae

Liyana, executive-produced by Thandie Newton

Claire Diao

Bruktawit Tigabu

Akosua Adoma Owusu

Ngozi Onwurah

Ngozi Onwurah: The Forgotten Pioneer of Black British Film. Varaidzo.

Les Tibeb Girls de Bruktawit Tigabu

Les Tibeb Girls, Ethiopiennes, super-héroïnes et feminists. Emeline Wuilbercq. 18-06-2017. Le Monde.

Danai Gurira

‘Black Panther’ Actress Danai Gurira to Star in Upcoming ‘Avengers’ Sequel. 14-06-2017. Hollywood Black Renaissance.

Issa Rae

Issa Rae ‘Insecure’ Season 2 Teaser. 14-06-2017. Hollywood Black Renaissance.

Liyana, executive-produced by Thandie Newton

Liyana an animation film, executive-produced by English-Zimbabwean actress Thandie Newton. A Swazi girl embarks on a dangerous quest to rescue her young twin brothers. liyanathemovie.com.

Claire Diao

Double vague : mettre en lumière 10 ans de cinema. 9-06-2017. Entretien de Claire Tomasella. Africultures. 

Bruktawit Tigabu

Bruktawit Tigabu, l'institutrice qui sauve des vies. Laura Carreno. 05-06-2017. Journal des Femmes. 

Akosua Adoma Owusu

Ghanaian-American Filmmaker Gets 2017 African Movie Academy Awards (Amaa) Nomination. threesixtygh.com

Trailers | Bande annonce

Akosua Adoma Owusu

On Monday of Last Week Trailer by Akosua Adoma Owusu

On Monday of Last Week Trailer by Akosua Adoma Owusu from Obibini Pictures LLC on Vimeo.

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

Akosua Adoma Owusu presents a collection of her short films at the Athens International Film + Video Festival 2015 (Ohio, USA)

akosuaadoma.com

Akosua Adoma Owusu: presents a collection of her short films at Athens International Film + Video Festival 2015 (Ohio, USA)

AKOSUA ADOMA OWUSU is a filmmaker of Ghanaian parentage whose films have screened worldwide in prestigious film festivals, museums, galleries, universities and microcinemas since 2005.

Films to be screened: April 7, 2015 7:15 pm

Bus Nut ‘Bus Nut’ re-articulates the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott, a political and social protest against US racial segregation on the public transit system of Montgomery Alabama and its relationship to an educational video on school bus safety. An actress re-stages a vintage video while reciting press conference audio of Rosa Parks on a recreated set in New York City.

Kwaku Ananse 2013 Kwaku Ananse is an intensely personal project which draws upon the rich mythology of Ghana. The short film combines semi-autobiographical elements with the tale of Kwaku Ananse, a trickster in West African stories who appears as both spider and man.

Split Ends, I Feel Wonderful 2012 A woman attaches hair piece, black women in hair salons get their hair plaited; and a woman models on a yellow turban. Eccentric hairstyles reveal the roots of Afro hair in which activist, Angela Davis becomes involved. Manipulating and re-positioning found footage as subject matter, “Split Ends, I feel wonderful” observes the latest fad in hairstyles of the 1970s among African Americans in NYC.

Drexciya 2010 A portrait of an abandoned public swimming facility located in Accra, Ghana. The Olympic sized pool, now in a dilapidated state, is used for locals for things other than swimming. Inspired by the myth of a Detroit electronic bands, Drexciya & Underground Resistance.

Me Broni Ba (My White Baby) 2009 Me Broni Ba is a lyrical portrait of hair salons in Kumasi, Ghana. The tangled legacy of European colonialism in Africa is evoked through images of women practicing hair braiding on discarded white baby dolls from the West.

Intermittent Delight 2007 Intermittent Delight juxtaposes close-ups of batik textiles, fashion and design from the 1950s and 1960s, images of men weaving and women sewing in Ghana, and fragments of a Westinghouse 1960s commercial- aimed to instruct women on the how-to of refrigerator decoration.

Source: Athens International Film + Video Festival

Women Filmmakers Week: Cascade Festival of African Films 2015 (USA)

The Cascade Festival of African Films (Portland, Oregon USA), which celebrates its 25th year, is held during the months of February and March, thus commemorating the U.S. celebration of Black History Month and Women’s History Month, respectively. The closing week of the festival features Women Filmmakers Week, which includes retrospectives, tributes and recently released short and feature film.

Filmmakers Iquo B. Essien, Frances Bodomo, Ekwa Msangi, Penda Diakité will be present for screening discussions.

Source: (Texts and Images): Cascade Festival of African Films

Poster: 2015 Festival Poster by Chouchou Lam

Artists Biographies: Link to Festival page

The 2015 lineup of films for Women Filmmakers Week:

Chika Anadu (Nigeria)

B For Boy (2013) – Under the theme Tribute to Nollywood

Synopsis: A contemporary drama set in Nigeria, about one woman’s desperate need for a male child. It explores the discrimination of women in the names of culture and religion. Winner of the 2014 African Movie Academy Awards for Best Film in an African Language.

Eka Christa Assam (Cameroon)

Beleh (2013)

Synopsis: The difficulty Joffi faces in her first pregnancy is made worse by the petulant and selfish demands of her irate and uncompromising husband, Ekema. Things come to a comedic head when Ekema wakes up one morning to a world very different from the one he went to sleep in.

Kaouther Ben Hania (Tunisia-France)

Wooden Hand (2013)

Synopsis: Five-year-old Amira lives with her mother in a cramped apartment in Tunis. At the moment to return to the Koranic school, Amira desperated seeks a way to grab a few more hours off. She finds nothing better than to stick her hand to the arm of the chair with super glue...

Frances Bodomo (Ghana-USA)

The Afronauts (2014)

Synopsis: On 16 July 1969, America prepares to launch Apollo 11. Thousands of miles away, the Zambia Space Academy hopes to beat America to the moon. Inspired by true events.

Penda Diakité (Mali-USA)

Words From A Silence (2014)

Synopsis: a short abstract diary montage of the artist’s thoughts, feelings and experiences as a bi-cultural female of color in the U.S. and Mali, West Africa.

Roberta Durrant (South Africa)

Felix (2013) – Under the theme Family Fest Matinée

13-year-old Felix dreams of becoming a saxophonist like his late father, but his mother thinks jazz is the devil's music. When Felix is awarded a scholarship for grade eight at an elitist private school, he defies his mother and turns to two aging members of his father's old band to help him prepare for the school jazz concert.

Iquo B. Essien (Nigeria, USA)

Aissa’s Story (2013)

Synopsis: Aissatou Ba is an African immigrant maid and single mother who must decide whether to move on with her life or fight when the case against the hotel guest who assaulted her is dismissed. But how can she restore her lost dignity?

Dyana Gaye (Senegal-France)

Under The Starry Sky (2013)

Synopsis: Sophie, Abdoulaye and Thierno’s three destinies cross paths and echo one another, delineating a constellation of exile. Sophie journeys from Dakar, Senegal, to join her husband Abdoulaye in Turin, Italy. Meanwhile, Abdoulaye has left for a new job opportunity in New York, hoping to stay with Sophie’s aunt. However, Sophie’s aunt and 19-year-old son Thierno are in Dakar for Thierno’s father’s funeral. With these three characters’ destinies, Under the Starry Sky takes us on a journey through the diversity of the cities the characters travel to, confronting us with the realities, hopes, and dreams of contemporary emigration.

Peres Owino (Kenya-USA)

Bound: Africans Versus African Americans (2014)

Synopsis: Bound takes us on a journey through the corridors of African and African American historical experiences as it illuminates the moments that divide and those that bind Africans and African Americans, culminating with ideas that promote reconciliation without assuming it is a quick fix.

Akosua Adoma Owusu (Ghana-USA)

Kwaku Ananse (2013)

Synopsis: The West African fable of Kwaku Ananse, a spider/man trickster who teaches that there are two sides to everything and everyone, is combined with the story of a young outsider named Nyan Kronhwea attending her estranged father’s funeral. Nyan’s father led two separate lives with two wives and two families, one in Ghana, one in the United States. Overwhelmed by the funeral, Nyan retreats to the spirit world in search for her father.

Ekwa Msangi (Kenya-USA)

Soko Sonko / The Market King (2014)

Synopsis: When her mom gets sick, Kibibi’s dad must take her to the market to get her hair braided before school begins. Soko Sonko is a hilarious, fish-out-of-water roller coaster of a journey about a well-intentioned dad who goes where no man has gone before… because only women have been there!

Moufida Tlatli (Tunisia)

The Silences of the Palace (1994) – Under the theme Retrospective

Alia, a singer in post-colonial Tunisia, looks back at her childhood in the palace of the Beys, the local rulers. Her mother was a servant in the palace that was a virtual prison for the women destined to be “in service.” Alia relives how her mother, the brave and beautiful Khedija, fought in relentless silence to protect and save her from the destiny that her mother had had to suffer.

Links from the African Women in Cinema Blog

Chika Anadu - A Glance at Cannes - The Festival Residency

Cannes: Kaouther Ben Hania & Samantha Biffot

FESPACO 2015 – Iquo B. Essien: "Aïssa's Story" | "l'histoire d'Aïssa"

FESPACO 2015 - Dyana Gaye: “Des étoiles” | “Under the Starry Sky”

"Bound: Africans versus African Americans" by Peres Owino at the 40th Seattle Int Film Festival

FESPACO 2015 – Akosua Adoma Owusu: “Kwaku Ananse”

FESPACO 2013 - Ekwa Msangi-Omari: Taharuki | Suspense

FESPACO 2015 – Akosua Adoma Owusu: “Kwaku Ananse”

akosuaadoma.com

Fespaco 2015 – Short film in competition | court métrage en compétition

Kwaku Ananse  (2013)

Akosua Adoma Owusu: (USA-Ghana)

The filmmaker | La réalisatrice

[English]

Akosua Adoma Owusu is a filmmaker of Ghanaian parentage whose films have screened worldwide in prestigious film festivals, museums, galleries, universities and microcinemas since 2005.

In 2013, The Huffington Post listed Akosua in "Black Artists: 30 Contemporary Art Makers Under 40 You Should Know." She started her career in the entertainment industry as an HBO Films post-production assistant on Chris Rock's documentary 'Good Hair' where she worked under renowned cinematographers Cliff Charles and Bradford Young.

Moving between the worlds of experimental film, African cinema, and fine arts, Akosua established her presence in the fine art world after studio assisting Los Angeles-based artist Rodney McMillian and curator, Christine Y. Kim; and with her showing in 30 Seconds Off an Inch, a 2009-2010 group exhibition curated by Naomi Beckwith. At 25, she was the youngest artist to be included in this exhibition of 60 distinct artworks by 42 established artists at the Studio Museum in Harlem.

In 2010, Akosua Adoma Owusu established the production company Obibini Pictures in Ghana to produce alternative African films for international markets. Her recent projects include reviving Ghana's oldest cinema, The Rex Cinema as an alternative creative space for art, music, and film.

[Français]

Akosua Adoma Owusu est une cinéaste d'origine ghanéenne. Depuis 2005 ses films passent dans de prestigieux festivals de cinéma, des musées, galeries, universités et microcinémas partout dans le monde.

En 2013, le Huffington Post la signale comme une des trente artistes noirs contemporains de moins de quarante ans à connaître. Elle commence sa carrière dans l'industrie du divertissement comme une assistante de post-production pour HBO Films sur le documentaire de Chris Rock « Good Hair » où elle travaille sous la direction de cinéastes de renom, Cliff Charles et Bradford Young.

Navigant entre les mondes du cinéma expérimental, du cinéma africain, et des beaux-arts, Akosua établit sa présence dans l’univers des beaux arts après son passage comme assistante dans le studio de l’artiste Rodney McMillian et la conservatrice Christine Y. Kim basés à Los Angeles, et avec « 30 Seconds Off an Inch », une exposition collective organisée par Naomi Beckwith en 2009-2010. A 25 ans, Akosua était la plus jeune artiste à faire partie de cette exposition de 60 œuvres par 42 artistes reconnus au Studio Museum de Harlem.

Akosua Adoma Owusu crée la société de production Obibini Pictures au Ghana en 2010, qui a pour objectif de produire des films africains alternatifs pour les marchés internationaux. Son dernier projet comporte la revivification du plus vieux cinéma du Ghana, Le Rex, comme un espace de création alternative pour l'art, la musique et le cinéma.

Synopsis 

[English]

“Kwaku Ananse” is an intensely personal project which draws upon the rich mythology of Ghana. The short film combines semi-autobiographical elements with the tale of Kwaku Ananse, a trickster in West African stories who appears as both spider and man. Ananse teaches us that there are two sides to everything and everyone.

The fable of Kwaku Ananse is combined with the story of a young outsider named Nyan Koronhwea attending her estranged father's funeral. Nyan's father led two separate lives with two wives and two families — one in Ghana, one in the United States. Nyan's ambivalence about her father's double life is a reflection of a broader truth about the nature of our personal relationships. 

[Français]

"Kwaku Ananse" est un projet très personnel qui s’appuie sur la riche mythologie du Ghana. Le court-métrage réunit des éléments semi-autobiographiques avec le conte de Kwaku Ananse, un fripon ou farceur (en anglais : trickster) dans les contes de l’Afrique de l'Ouest qui apparaît à la fois comme l'araignée et l'homme. Ananse nous apprend qu’il y a deux faces dans chaque être et chaque chose.

La fable de "Kwaku Ananse" est reliée avec l'histoire de la jeune expatriée Nyan Koronhwea qui vient assister aux funérailles de son père qu'elle a très peu connu. Celui-ci menait deux vies séparées avec deux femmes et deux familles—une au Ghana et une aux États-Unis. L'ambivalence de Nyan envers la double vie de son père illustre une vérité plus large sur la nature de nos relations personnelles.

Source: http://akosuaadoma.com 

Images: http://akosuaadoma.com

Ghanaian-American filmmaker Akosua Adoma Owusu launches crowdfunding campaign to save the Rex Cinema in Accra, Ghana

Ghanaian-American filmmaker Akosua Adoma Owusu launches crowdfunding campaign to save the Rex Cinema in Accra, Ghana that risks being sold for redevelopment.

With the $8,000 she hopes to raise on Kickstarter, Akosua Adoma Owusu envisions transforming the Rex Cinema into a multi-purpose art space.

Go to the "Damn the Man, Save the Rex" Kickstarter page for more information: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/568625108/damn-the-man-save-the-rex

Image Source: Kickstarter "Damn the Man, Save the Rex"

Akosua Adoma Owusu’s Triple Consciousness

Akosua Adoma Owusu begins her filmmaker's statement with the enduring reflection of the renowned intellectual W.E.B. Dubois:

The history of the American Negro is the history of this strife — this longing to attain self-conscious manhood, to merge his double self into a better and truer self. In this merging he wishes neither of the older selves to be lost. He does not wish to Africanize America, for America has too much to teach the world and Africa. He wouldn't bleach his Negro blood in a flood of white Americanism, for he knows that Negro blood has a message for the world. He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of opportunity closed roughly in his face.

According to Owusu, while African Americans experience the double consciousness that W.E.B. Dubois describes, the African immigrant encounters a triple consciousness:

The African immigrant is unlike the African American who has a double consciousness. The African immigrant has a triple consciousness. The African immigrant has to assimilate in white American culture in order to succeed in American society. The African immigrant is grouped and identified with African Americans in the eyes of others because of their shared skin color. Yet the African does not always identify with African American culture and history. Along with the African immigrant’s triple consciousness, he has to deal with the African world and his or her own line of descent. Me broni ba Website - No longer available

Her “warring consciousness” as she describes it, becomes the point of departure for her film Me broni ba (my white baby). Using hair as a medium of culture, she examines African and African-American identities and ideologies in an effort to resolve their differences.

Me broni ba is inspired by the experiences of Adoma’s sister who as a child was fascinated with white people’s hair, as well as her own observations, during her travels to Ghana, of girls using white dolls to practice hair braiding.  This relationship to the white doll raises the vexed question of the exportation and internalization of white standards of beauty in Africa. Thus a parallel to the triple consciousness among the African immigrant population—an “exteriorized consciousness” that Africans experience, though not in the context of assimilation but rather of interiorizing a western aesthetic leading to a similar double consciousness to which Dubois refers, in the form of an African/Western dichotomy.

In the United States, Owusu reflects a growing population of Neo-African Diasporans, whose experiences highlight a recent debate on the differences between African Americans and Africans in America; the former, descendants of enslaved Africans having endured the transatlantic slave trade and U.S. slavery, and the latter, diverse groups having largely migrated to the United States post-African independence and who constitute the “Neo-African Diaspora”. 

Me Broni Ba by Akosua Adoma Owusu (Trailer) 

Existential Crisis by Akosua Adoma Owusu from Obibini Pictures LLC on Vimeo.

Kwaku Ananse Trailer by Akosua Adoma Owusu from Obibini Pictures LLC on Vimeo.

Sources:

Me Broni Ba Website - NO LONGER AVAILABLE. Last accessed November 23, 2010.

“My Films Are Manifestations of My Warring Consciousness” Interview with Akosua Adoma Owusu by Jacobia Dahm for MTV - NO LONGER AVAILABLE

Movie Review: My White Baby by Jacobia Dahm for MTV IGGY - NO LONGER AVAILABLE

Updated to include recent films.