Afua’s Diary gone international.

By Lauren Finton.

A British romantic film about a Ghanaian immigrant has become an international hit following screenings in New York, Cannes and London.

Inspired by true events, Afua’s Diary follows the life of Afua Forson Brown, a marketing graduate whose British student visa is about to run out. Her situation is made worse by constant nagging from her lazy & arrogant boyfriend and persistent calls from her alcoholic father in Ghana asking her to send him money. Afua eventually falls in love with the man of her dreams but unfortunately finds herself in an even more complicated situation. The film stars British model/actress Cleopatra Wood, Italian/Egyptian Actor Fabio Abraham and legendary Ghanaian actor KSM.

The light-hearted movie was first screened in London in December 2014 and received immediate endorsement by the British National film awards and a nomination from the British Screen Nation Awards. Last week saw the film premiere in France at the Cannes Pan African film festival and New York at the Women of African Descent Film Festival where it received a juror’s choice award.

Speaking in Cannes after the festival, producer and writer, Bibi Owusu-Shadbolt said, ‘Our main purpose for making this film was to showcase an independent African themed film to mainstream audiences and I am glad that people from diverse cultures and backgrounds have embraced it. We hope this will open the door for seeing more productions like these on the world stage in the future.’ British model and actress Cleopatra Wood, who has some Ghanaian heritage expressed gratitude for being given the opportunity to play the lead role. ‘It is amazing to see audiences take to Afua’s Diary so positively. Having a diverse range of stories and cultures reflected in cinema is important, It is not often that you see a Ghanaian girl as the heroine particularly in the UK, so I feel really privileged to be part of this film.’

Afua’s Diary is a Pixelex Aspect production. It is scheduled to be showed in selected cinemas i the UK in August before going on general release in Africa in September.