For Those With Stories To Tell
BY DJ YAMZ
A breath and a pause, and the biggest love from Tema! 💚🧡
There are times when I reflect on my journey as a creator and I laugh a little. There are things/projects you work on for yourself and other people that make you excited about the prospects for your career, only for them to be realized and not quite reach the heights you imagined or hoped for. There are also other times, where you may do/take on something that requires ‘minimal effort’ and it’s that project/work that takes surprising turns and reaches places you couldn’t have imagined.
Working on the film, Certain Winds from the South, was one of those latter experiences. When I see how far that project has gone, I can only shake my head and laugh to myself 😂
I want to use this issue to talk a little bit about this film and to give a tremendous shoutout to Eric, Moshood and to everyone involved in making this project.
I also want to say a special thank you to Eric and Moshood for adding to the legacy and memory of the great Prof. Ama Ata Aidoo through this work.
Happy reading!!
Love,
Yamz
“…We believe that artists have a valuable function in any society, since it is the artists who reveal the society to itself.”
~ Harry Belafonte
Certain Winds from the South: A Film by Eric Gyamfi & Moshood Hamza Balogun
Sometime in 2021 (I think), my friend and photographer, Eric Gyamfi, asked me if I could voice a role in a film he was working on. He said the film was an adaptation of Prof. Ama Ata Aidoo’s short story, Certain Winds from the South, from her larger collection of short stories titled, No Sweetness Here, which was originally published in 1970. The collection takes a critical look at post-independence Ghanaian society1.
At the time, I didn’t think much of Eric’s ask, it was a film my good friend was making and it was a story by Ama Ata Aidoo—there wasn’t too much to think about 😄
Certain Winds from the South is a story set against the backdrop of colonisation and World War II in Ghana2. The story revolves around M’ma Asana, who receives a visit from her son-in-law, Issah, on one fateful evening. Issah has come to inform M’ma Asana of his decision to embark on a journey to the south of Ghana, in search of greener pastures. Through conversations and reflections from both characters, and others, we uncover a vicious cycle of inequality, that seeks to threaten their already precarious future3.
The film itself was directed by Eric and written with Moshood Hamza Balogun and features:
Ayi Amadu (M’ma Asana)
Nenesenor Abloso (Issah)
Nasiba Mbabe Bawa (Hawa)
Pure Akan (Narrator)
DJ Yamz (Voice of Fuseini)
Courage Dzidula Kpodo (Set Design)
Asiakwen Abag-dem (Costume Design)
2023 Film Screenings
Fast forward to 2023, when I first learned through my friend and Manager Supremus, Abigail, that the film was premiering at the New York African Film Festival—that was something I certainly was not expecting (but also, it’s Eric! He always surprises!).
Since that premiere, a steady stream of screenings have followed. So far (and to my current knowledge), the film has been screened at:
New York African Film Festival (NYAFF) (May-June 2023)
W.E.B. DuBois Centre, Accra (June 4, 2023)
Nuku Studios, Tamale (Aug. 19, 2023 - Sep. 30, 2023)
Pa gya! A Literary Festival 2023, Accra (Oct. 13-15, 2023) [under the ‘Exhibitions’ section]
The film continues to make rounds at various film circuits and so far, this year, there will be confirmed screenings taking place on the following dates and locations:
2024 Film Screenings
Kumasi, Ghana
Date: Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024
Location: Mattress House, near Roman hill, inside the Kumasi Central Market, Kejetia
Berlin, Germany
The film has also been selected to screen at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinarle 2024) in Germany.
If you or anyone you know happens to be in Berlin between Feb. 18-23, check out the film at the Festival! Your support would be much appreciated!
Until Next Time! 👋🏿
That’s it for this issue!
Until we link again! Breathe easy!! 🐉
CERTAIN WINDS FROM THE SOUTH. www.berlinale.de/en/2024/programme/202406916.html.
Reguig-Mouro, Wassila Hamza. “A Thematic Reading of C. Ama Ata Aidoo’s ‘Certain Winds From the South.’” Revue Plurilingue Études Des Langues Littératures Et Cultures, vol. 6, no. 1, Dec. 2022, pp. 23–28, doi:10.46325/ellic.v6i1.81.
CERTAIN WINDS FROM THE SOUTH. www.berlinale.de/en/2024/programme/202406916.html.