When two great minds meet, the outcome is a magnificent production, and that is what is expected of an upcoming film produced by Ghanaian filmmaker and director Adoma Akosua Owusu. The short film, On Monday of Last Week, is an adaptation from Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s collection, The Thing Around Your Neck.
Having acquired the rights to reproduce the short story into a film, Owusu, who owns Obibini Productions will retell the story of 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.
In short, the story revolves around numerous complex issues and themes including marriage, race, motherhood, liberalism, alienation, and sexuality.
“I am excited to announce that my company, Obibini Pictures, LLC recently optioned the exclusive film adaptation rights for On Monday of Last Week,” announced a thrilled Owusu on her Facebook page.
This is not a first for Owusu. The renowned filmmaker has a number of award-winning films, which have been screened worldwide. Some of her works include Kwaku Ananse that received the 2013 African Movie Academy Award, Me Broni Ba (My White Baby), and Bus Nut.
Some of Owusu’s films have been screened across the world in prestigious museums, galleries, film festivals, universities, and microcinemas.
The filmmaker, a fellow at the Guggenheim Foundation, will receive support from the foundation. She has launched a Kick Starter campaign to source for $30,000.
According to the Ghanaian-American avant-garde filmmaker and producer, the project will explore “triple consciousness” of the African immigrant as she transitions between experimental cinema, fine art, and African tradition to complicate the nature of identity.
Owusu is on a journey to retell African stories by contemporary African writers through film, starting off with Adichie’s On Monday of Last Week.
Director's vision
In her own viewpoint, Owusu says: “combining creative practices to find a new cinematic language, On Monday of Last Week, renders literary text through moving image.”
“This fiction short film bridges the gap between the film and art world. …I would like to draw attention to juxtaposition and stark contrasts; blurring the lines between fantasy and reality, light, and shadow, intimacy, and distance, the quintessential upper-class Brooklyn starter family and the life of a Nigerian immigrant from the Bronx in New York City. The mood between the central characters Kamara, Tracy and Neil is laced with tension and ambiguity. These moments become almost voyeuristic as the Nigerian character, Kamara becomes an object of attraction to Josh, Neil, and Tracy.”
Image credit: Yanoom Multimedia Solutions, Inc.