Naana Blu's voice dances beautifully on feet-stomping beats by Akablay, the legendary  Highlife guitarist and band leader. 

Ghana's leading singer and Tik Tok star opens Ama's new soundtrack with a Kool rendition of the legendary song.  

I love the horns! 

The African Dawn Podcast. Untold stories breaking at dawn!

One of Cinema's most intriguing works of Magic Realism

A twelve-year-old girl, Ama, comes across a computer disc in a deserted African encampment in the English countryside which tells her who she is, an ancestral messenger selected to save her father from death and her brother Joe, a boxer from disaster in an upcoming fight.  Can Ama convince them to do the right thing to avoid disaster?

“An intriguing breakthrough!” - Derek Malcolm, The Guardian

“Appealingly fresh and unusual” - Barry Norman, Film 91

"An arresting spectacle" - West Africa Magazine

"Stunning. Not to be missed" -Spare Rib

WORLD PREMIERE OF DIRECTOR'S CUT
26 May 2023 at 7 pm
29 May at 4 pm
Peter Jay Sharp Building
BAM Rose Cinemas
30 Lafayette Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217

The African Dawn Podcast. Untold stories breaking at dawn!

In the first part of this mini-series, Winston James, the eminent scholar of Pan-African history talks to Kwesi Owusu about the life of Claude Mckay, the Jamaican-born, American writer and poet and the events that inspired his most famous poem, “If We Must Die”. Rare archival records, including the original recording of McKay’s poem, vintage music and powerful testimonies evoke the summer of 1919, one of the most sordid periods in American history.

The African Dawn Podcast. Untold stories breaking at dawn!

For 25 years, Wala Dangarembizi’s legendary Limpopo Club at Africa Centre in London hosted and introduced stars like Baaba Maal, Angelique Kidzo, The Bundu Boys, Kanda Bongo Man and numerous others from across Africa to the international music circuit. The story of the club's fascinating success is told with classic tracks from its 80s heydays and fond recollections by DJ Wala himself. 

The episode includes tributes from Pitika Ntuli, Kwesi Owusu, Eugene Skeef, Imruh Bakari, Merle Collins, Ruhi Hamid, Nana Kwame Akoto, Debbie Golt, Lavern Buchanan, Ujebe Masokoane, Chukunyere, Fyna of Lioness Chant, Marlene Smith, Kwate Nee Owoo, Donna Halley-Moore, Priscilla Mhone, Charles Acquah, George Shire and Ra Hendricks.  

The African Dawn Podcast. Untold stories breaking at dawn!

Ghana's ace producer and gifted musician chats to Kwesi Owusu about hit songs and highlights of his career.  

The African Dawn Podcast. Untold stories breaking at dawn!

It's a roller coaster of musical bites and engaging convo! Prof Louise Owusu explores the true meaning of Highlife music and her passion for Rave music, Jungle and Happy Hardcore!

The African Dawn Podcast. Untold stories breaking at dawn!

Eugene Skeef recollects the heady days of the  1980s when he arrived in London as an exile from South Africa. He meets The African Dawn, the legendary group of Pan-African poets and musicians and highlights the campaigns for African and Caribbean arts and culture in Britain The 1980s, with its wide spectrum of activities and the emergence of a new movement of artists, against the backdrop of social upheavals in British cities, is now considered the beginning of the Black Renaissance in Britain.

The African Dawn Podcast. Untold stories breaking at dawn!

Eugene Skeef explores the memory of water in the work of  Bheki Mseleku. He identifies this as Mseleku's strongest inspiration in a short-lived career that saw many ecstatic days of artistic triumph, as well as very difficult times. The music always stayed magical. 

The African Dawn Podcast. Untold stories breaking at dawn!

Eugene Skeef's close friendship with Bheki Msuleku was critical in the latter's highly creative but short-lived career.  He highlights what made Bheki Mseleku a creative genius

The African Dawn Podcast. Untold stories breaking at dawn!

In his absence, Eugene Skeef's mother burns all his creative works to destroy all possible traces of his involvement with the South African freedom movement. Eugene Skeef was a close friend and getaway driver for Steve Biko, the leader of the Black Consciousness Movement.  Biko later died in the hands of the Apartheid police and secret service. 

The father of Bheki Mseleku, the great pianist also chopped up the family piano and burnt it for firewood. 

The African Dawn Podcast. Untold stories breaking at dawn!