Kwaku Ananse

Film

by Akosua Adoma Owusu

Details

Ghana, Mexico and USA / 2013 / 25mins / Drama / Twi

The traditional West African fable of Kwaku Ananse tells the story of a part man, part spider who spends years collecting all wisdom of the world in a wooden pot. As he tries to hide the pot his little son, Ntikuma shows him the way, which angers Kwaku Ananse that he throws down the pot so it bursts and the wisdom seeps away. The fable is combined with the story of a young outsider named Nyan Koronhwea attending her estranged father's funeral. Overwhelmed by the procession, she escapes into the spirit world in search for her father. She carries her ambivalence with her into the forest, where she learns the ultimate truth about all human relationships.

Trailer

About the Director

Akosua Adoma Owusu

Akosua Adoma Owusu is a Ghanaian-American filmmaker, producer and cinematographer whose films have screened worldwide in prestigious film festivals, museums, galleries, universities and micro-cinemas since 2005. She has exhibited worldwide including Berlinale, Rotterdam, BFI London Film Festival, and the New York African Film Festival at the Film Society of Lincoln Center. She participated as a featured artist at the 56th Robert Flaherty Seminar programmed by renowned film critic Dennis Lim. She has won numerous fellowships and grants including from the Guggenheim Foundation, Knight Foundation, Creative Capital, MacDowell Colony, Camargo Foundation the Goethe-Institut Salvador-Bahia, and most recently from the Residency Program at Villa Sträuli in Winterthur, Switzerland. Her recent projects include reviving Ghana’s historic Rex Cinema as a creative space for art, music, and film. Owusu received her MFA in Film/Video and Art at the California Institute of the Arts. Currently, she divides her time between Ghana and New York, where she works as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Her films are produced under her production company Obibini Pictures LLC. Akosua Adoma Owusu is represented by Andrew Farber at Farber Law LLC. Learn More