speak to the middle-class. So I feel there is a divide, but I do feel like there are other stories that can be explored. It seems there are a lot of love stories and stories to entertain. There’ s still room for growth.
Is there a cinema-going public?
No. There is one active cinema in Ghana— Silver Bird( in Accra Mall). They show mostly foreign films like big blockbusters. Most Ghanaian films go straight to DVD. Ghanaians mostly watch TV. It’ s not common for people to go out to theaters and pay to watch films.
So do people know of you and your work at home?
I’ ve just started being well-known in Ghana. I recently won the Africa Movie Academy Award( for Best Short Film), a short film call“ Kwaku Ananse.” Before that I felt like a Ghanaian abroad for international audiences, and that win kind of brought me back home and I feel it’ s easier to navigate the Ghanaian industry because of that recognition.
How did“ Black Sunshine” come about?
It came about as a thesis film at film school, but I realized I didn’ t have enough time to produce a feature-length film, so I made a short film called“ My White Baby,” that was a documentary with similar themes as“ Black Sunshine.” I was also able to workshop this project at Produire au Sud. Then from there I went to different film labs, and now I’ m here to pitch it at Durban FilmMart.
Albinism is a big issue in some parts of the continent, where some albinos are even killed for their body parts. Did your research and script development entail interviewing the public?
My film is not like a documentary,( designed to make people) aware of the killings of albinos. My film is a fiction that talks about these issues in a creative way without hitting people over the head about it. I think if we talk about these issues, I could risk creating a negative portrayal. I don’ t want to perpetuate these negative pictures of Africa as seen in other films.
What’ s it about?
It’ s about a black mother who wants to escape her African reality and an albino girl who just wants to fit into her community. It’ s about a motherdaughter conflict, which is also visible. I think we got a lot of great feedback( at FilmMart pitching forums). We’ re just really happy to be here.
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