Elmina

  • 104'
  • United Kingdom
  • 2010
A confusing film. It looks like a soapy Ghanaian feature - true in a way - but it also comes across as a work by the Western artist Douglas Fishbone. Is the film the work of this Fishbone or of the Ghanaian director Emmanuel Apea Jr? In this the makers are deliberately unclear.
The white American artist Fishbone, who works in London, plays a role as Ato, a local inhabitant in the small Ghanaian harbour town of Elmina. His race is prohibited in an absurd and confusing way. In his dialogues, Ato assumes that he is a black Ghanaian, but his presentation does not hide the fact that he is a white Westerner. The effect is comic, but the humour is dry and more absurd than funny.
Elmina could be the first African coastal town from which Europeans started their colonisation of the continent. The corrupt tribal chief of the town wants to persuade the population to sell their country to a Chinese oil company. The Chinese take over the former role of the Europeans.
  • 104'
  • United Kingdom
  • 2010
Director
Emmanuel Apea Jr.
Premiere
International premiere
Countries of production
United Kingdom, Ghana
Year
2010
Festival Edition
IFFR 2011
Length
104'
Medium
DV cam PAL
Languages
English, Twi
Producer
Doug Fishbone
Production Company
Flatbush Films
Sales
Flatbush Films
Screenplay
John Apea, Emmanuel Apea Jr.
Cinematography
Kofi Asante
Editor
Enoch Sarpong
Production Design
Julia Apea
Sound Design
Claus Ansa Acquah
Music
Claus Ansa Acquah
Cast
John Apea, Doug Fishbone
Director
Emmanuel Apea Jr.
Premiere
International premiere
Countries of production
United Kingdom, Ghana
Year
2010
Festival Edition
IFFR 2011
Length
104'
Medium
DV cam PAL
Languages
English, Twi
Producer
Doug Fishbone
Production Company
Flatbush Films
Sales
Flatbush Films
Screenplay
John Apea, Emmanuel Apea Jr.
Cinematography
Kofi Asante
Editor
Enoch Sarpong
Production Design
Julia Apea
Sound Design
Claus Ansa Acquah
Music
Claus Ansa Acquah
Cast
John Apea, Doug Fishbone