Akosua Adoma Owusu

Filmmaker, Ghana/US

Akosua Adoma Owusu (born January 1, 1984) is a Ghanaian-American avant-garde filmmaker and producer whose films have screened worldwide in prestigious film festivals, museums, galleries, universities and microcinemas since 2005. Her work addresses the collision of identities, where the African immigrant located in the United States has a "triple consciousness". Owusu interprets Du Bois' notion of double consciousness and creates a third identity or consciousness, representing the diverse consciousness of women and African immigrants interacting in African, white American, and black American culture.

Save the Rex

Save the Rex is a Ghanaian coming-of-age film that follows feisty Ghanaian-American filmmaker NANA. She is in her late 20s, living in Louisiana when her film is nominated for the African Movie Academy Award. Her pretentious fiancée, a lawyer, refuses to travel with her to Ghana, so she goes alone. While she’s gone, her fiancée decides he doesn’t want a long-distance relationship - not even one that’s only temporarily long-distance, and he ends their relationship. Later that same day, while out exploring a local marketplace, Nana stumbles upon the Rex - an old movie theater. Nana learns from squatters that the cinema house is slated for demolition. Nana decides to try and stop this from occurring as she defies cultural expectations and launches a Kickstarter funding campaign to transform the Rex into a creative space for local artists. As the renovations begin to take shape, the squatters turn on Nana, telling the Ghanaian government that she’s trespassing. Despite her best efforts to get both parties to buy in to her vision, she must put her project on hold - indefinitely. The challenges of renovating the Rex teach her that there’s more to doing business than having a compelling idea and she begins to wonder if the "Academy Award love curse" can actually reach all the way across the Atlantic. 

More info: www.akosuaadoma.com

Akosua Adoma Owusu was in residence from June 6 to July 5, 2016, in partnership with the Jerome Foundation and Art Matters.