And the beat goes on… Installment number 6 of the S&A "10 Questions With A Black Filmmaker" series… catch up with the first 5 if you need to: Barry Jenkins HERE, Seith Mann HERE, Victoria Mahoney HERE, Rodney Evans HERE, and Ava DuVernay HERE.
Up next on the list of filmmakers who thankfully took time out of their busy schedules to engage in a bit of frivolity (although, not really) is
Leila Djansi, the
award winning Ghanaian filmmaker (now based in the US
whose last feature film, Sinking Sands, won 3 trophies at the 2011 African Movie Academy Awards (was nominated for 9),
and was endorsed by UNIFEM, Ghana, as a resource in its Say NO! to Violence campaign. Leila is
currently prepping her next film for release, Ties That Bind, a multi-million dollar production co-starring Kimberly Elise,
Ama K Abebrese and Nollywood's Omotola Ekeinde.
If you've been reading S&A for the last 6 or so months, you should be familiar, because we've written about her and her films a number of times, including Wendy's interview with her at Cannes earlier this year, which you can watch HERE.
Ties That Bind
is expected to premiere at the National Theatre in Accra on Dec 30th; and I'm sure we'll be writing some more about it in 2012, as it travels.
In the meantime, get to know her a little more below, via her answers to my 10 randomly-selected questions:
1. If you could recommend 2 movies newly released in 2011 that everyone should see, they would be these (not including yours)…
That would be The Help and Mother and Child.
2. I own every single album (or should own every single album) by this musician…
Oh gosh!!! I'm not too much into music. I don't even have a favorite musician. :(. But, I do like Salvador.
3. I want my tombstone to read…
Hehehehehe, I came, I saw, I hope, I conquered!!
4. Earliest movie memory…
I think I was 6 years old and it was Clash of the Titans; the 1981 version. The Kraken gave me a fever for a week. My mum never made me watch movies again for a while.
5. If I weren't a filmmaker, I'd be this…
I'd be Nancy Drew!!!! I wanted to be an OBGYN and then a forensic scientist
6. Carnivore, herbivore or omnivore?
Omnivore who doesn't do red meat.
7. I’d kill to work with this actor (or these actors)…
I really don't have a hit list of actors but, Kate Winslet is someone I'd love to work with. It will be a challenge to see her embrace something I'll create.
8. The view outside my bedroom windows looks like this…
The withering roses on my patio. They're adorable in the spring though.
9. I do most of my movie watching: at the theater, at home on a TV screen, on my mobile device (PDA, iPad, etc)
At home on a TV screen!
10. I’m a director, but if I were to act, I’d love to be directed by this director.
Bernardo Bertolucci
That's all folks! THANKS Leila!
