Ghanaian Actor Nominated In The Best Actor In The Diaspora At The 2013 Africa Film Development Awards

Ghanaian actor Yao Nunoo gets a nod for this year's Best Actor in the Diaspora Award at the 2013 Africa Film Development awards in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.by Edward Arthur

Rumours have it that Kerry Washington and Tracy Morgan have been selected to host this year's African Film Development Awards. This year's ceremony is slated to be one of the most entertaining and anticipated Film Awards on the continent. With backing from major donors and a list of nominees that include the finest contemporary African filmmakers the award promises to shine some light on African filmmakers on the continent and in the diaspora.

Arguable one of the most talked about categories at this year's Africa Film Development awards 2013 is a special category for BEST AFRICAN ACTOR/ACTRESS IN DIASPORA. The nominees include Thandie Newton, Idris Elba, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Charlize Theron, Djimon Hounsou,Sophie Okonedo and Yao B Nunoo a Ghanaian born actor and contender in the Best Actor category.

In 2008, shortly after completing film school, Yao B Nunoo and a small crew of filmmakers from the US embarked on an ambitious trip to Ghana to shoot a script he wrote a year and half earlier. A few months later, and many lessons learned, the crew produced the critically acclaimed feature film, The Destiny of Lesser Animals (Sebo ne kre, Dabo ne kra). This debut feature film has screened to audiences at the prestigious MOMA New Director/New Film, Seattle Film Festival and the Los Angeles Film Festivals with great reviews. After a pleasant welcome home premier in Ghana, this film is continued to make the Chicago Film Festival and Philadelphia Film Festival, where it was greeted with a sold out audience.

This audience favorite and award winning feature film has quietly made its rounds in the festival circuit in the the United States, garnishing awards for best screenplay and other nominations including best director. Set in Ghana and the US, The destiny of Lesser Animals (Sebo ne Kra, Dabo Ne Kra), is a cleverly crafted policier that explores journey of Inspector Boniface Koomson, a Ghanaian deportee from the US, as he chases after a decade long dream to return to the US with a fake passport.

The film explores the internal struggle of a young man's dreams stolen by an elusive drifter named Yaro and his desire for a place where he can find meaning through the eyes of a beggar girl (Zongo girl).

From an esoteric point of view the film explores whether it is better "To dream of an escape to a new home or to escape home to a new dream". With similar themes as Kurosawa's "Stray Dog" the film accomplishes a few things seldom seen in African cinema. By contextualizing this drama set in a postadolescence emergence of the former colonial nation Ghana, the film challenges some early false notions of new national identity in this case Koomson's confined view of his identity as an adult. Hence from the exoteric view, the film pushes for a redefinition of emerging stereotypes of post colonial Ghana and for that matter Africa.

Unlike other films of this genre, the film is neither intrusive or exploitative of it's stage, Ghana, nor it's cultural complexity. The careful depictions of scenes are shot effortlessly, which creates the feeling of looking into a mirror rather than through a lens, hence merely showing life as it is. This turns out to be an endearing quality of the film as it adds to the nostalgia of seeing a Africa depicted as a place and not a subject.

The characters are real and present, surrounded by the scenes of Ghana which will put you

right there in the midst of everyday characters a cinematic feat only a handful of filmmakers are able to achieve on the continent. You don't have to be from Africa or look too closely to see yourself there through the mirror held up by the film's Ghanaian writer and his amazing performance as Boniface Koomson.

The role of the main character, Inspector Boniface Koomson, cast the enigmatic up and coming

Ghanaian born actor, Yao B Nunoo (who also penned and coproduced the film) in quite a moving and convincing portrayal.

Nunoo's performance leads his audience through the mystery of a stolen passport and a shadowy drifter, while rediscovering a new Ghanaian reality though a strange relationships guidance of a veteran cop and hopeless patriot Oscar Darko with mute beggar girl. You can sense the ultimately unraveling Boniface's his true dreams and aspirations throughout the film, but pleasantly surprised when the film ends.

Only a few actors may have been able to pull what Nunoo pulls in this film as he play Boniface.

Speaking in five different languages and multiple dialects throughout the film, Nunoo brings depth to his portrayal of the character Boniface.

The film also features strong performances from prominent Ghanaian actors like Edinam Atatsi, A. B. Takyi(Serwa), and the Legendary Fred Amugi who plays his best role yet as Oscar Darko with what one Hollywood reporter calls " a sage calm that has a fiery burning underneath, longing to help other Ghanaians understand the importance of embracing who they are".

The Director, Deron Albright, a Fulbright Award Recipient and his team craft an exciting fastpaced suspenseful crime thriller as we follow Boniface Koomson, Oscar Darko and the illusive Yaro (played by former model Kennedy Ofori) through the streets of Ghana. There are a few twists, but the film never misses a beat from beginning to end.

The languages are in Ga,Twi,Fante, English and Pidgin and it explores some important questions about "home", "identity" and "sacrificing a dream". You will learn something about yourself by the time the end credits start rolling.

In his career Yao Nunoo has been a staunch advocate of diversity in African cinema, recognizing the great contribution actors and screenwriters like himself can contribute to the development on an inclusive approach to African Film. His advocacy for African film and passion for higher quality of the neoAfrican cinema over the years has challenged the conventional approach to storytelling through cinema.

With Yao B. Nunoo's recognition at this year's Africa Film Development Awards alongside Theron, Hounsou, Okonedo and Ejiofor, hopefully there is a door that cracked open for other great films from the rest of the African continent to make a mark. This is Yao Nunoo's first nomination in this category. Hats off to Mr. Nunoo on his nomination as he steps into his new shoes and champion the face of NeoAfrican Cinema related resources for this article

http://www.filmbizafrica.com/articles/afdaannouncement.html

http://www.destinyoflesseranimals.com/

Ghanaian Actor Yao Nunoo