A woman has a disabled child and goes through several challenges to get healing for child having being abandoned by the father.

Essuman (33), a yam seller and a single parent, gives birth to a child with cleft palate and her first instinct is to run away as she's accused of causing her child's "imperfection." She makes the attempt, but her conscience brings her back and she accepts her fate. Three years later, her son is diagnosed with cerebral palsy which makes him unable to talk, sit or walk like his peers. Determined to find cure for her son, Essuman goes from hospital to hospital until she accepts that the condition is incurable. She gives up on Western medicine and seeks the help of a herbalist, a protestant pastor and a spiritualist. They all either dupe her, take advantage of her or mislead her. The stress of taking care of a disabled child and the criticisms she encounters drives Essuman to drastic measures.

A film by Priscilla ANANY

Ghana | USA, 2016, fiction, 1h 30min, Drama

Stars: Rukiyat Masud, Adjetey Anang, Bex

Debute feature-length narrative, set in Ghana.

Year: 2016
Country: USA | Ghana
Runtime: 90 min
Length: 101 minutes (Tribeca FilmFest)
Color: Color (NTSC Color)
Aspect Ratio: 2.35 : 1
Language: Twi
Language: English
Plot Keywords: help | disability | african | children | women |
Genres: Drama
Filming Locations: Ghana

Main Cast: Rukiyat Masud, Grace Omaboe, Akofa Edjeani, Adjetey Annang, Agbeko Mortty (Bex), Dzifa Glikpo, Mynna Otoo

Director: Priscilla Anany
Screenwriter: Priscilla Anany
Producer: Priscilla Anany
Editor: Elizabeth Lee
Associate Producer: Mawuli Akpabi
Cinematographer: Eli Wallace Johansson
Executive Producer: Marie Djameh
Composer: Gabriel DiMarco, Ben Amakye - Boateng
Production Designer: Albert Quao Bervell

Director: Priscilla Anany (as Priscilla Anany-Williams)
Writer: Priscilla Anany (as Priscilla Anany-Williams)

Priscilla Anany... executive producer (as Priscilla Anany-Williams) / producer
Bex... co-producer (as Agbeko Mortty)
Clement Djameh... executive producer
Marie Djameh... executive producer
Venerandah Djameh... executive producer
Adam Yeremian... executive producer
Mawuli Akpabi... associate producer
Barbara Meden Bryant... associate producer
Nas Jab... associate producer
Terry Oppong... associate producer
Aphyia Allotey... line producer

Cinematography by Eli Wallace-Johansson
Film Editing by Elizabeth Lee
Music by Gabriel DiMarco
Casting By Bex... (as Agbeko Mortty)
Production Design by Albert Aidoo Bervell
Set Decoration by Felize Saforo
Costume Design by Mary Akua Debrah
Ludwig Mawuli Kalms... production manager
Richard Danklu... assistant director
Felize Saforo... set dresser
Alison Gregory... sound editor
Brian Langman... re-recording mixer
Elly Mawuli... sound recordist
Mike Poppleton... sound editor
Mana-Yaa Akoma... first assistant camera
Amoako Mensah... key grip
Kelvin O'Funeke... casting assistant
Mary Akua Debrah... costumer
Jeremiah Black... colorist
Jason Bowdach... colorist
Elizabeth Lee... assistant editor
Angelica Lopez... assistant editor
Adam Yeremian... supervising editor
Gabriel DiMarco... musician: cello

Cast
Rukiyat Masud... Essuman
Adjetey Anang... Edjah
Bex... Gyamfi (as Agbeko Mortty)
Akofa Edjeani Asiedu... Asantewaa
Grace Omaboe... Naana
Jessica Dablo... Nuku
Mynna Otoo... Nyamekye
Mea Vita Otoo-Panou... Narley
Stacy Afful... Agnes
Eli Cecilson... Aqua
Faustina Kumesi... Adoma
Agnes Vemegah... Kitiwaa
Silvia Tettegah... Mansah
William Addo... Xsavo
Frank M. Ahearn... Det. Toomaloo
Rudolph Akrong... Gold Man
Anna Appia-Ankuma... Dr. Asare
Comfort Arthur... Female Resident Doctor
Alison Asihene... Police Woman 1
Precious Bia-Dela... Mabel
Llyrio Boateng... Kwame
Richard Boateng... Pastor
Matilda Gaddah... Dr. Mary Maaynu
Dzifa Glikpoe... Mama
Ludwig Mawuli Kalms... Senchi
Nana Konadu Kyei-Badu... Police Woman 2
Kojjo Mensah... Fitter
Safowaa Miriam... Customer Service Girl
Irene Ntsu... Serwaa


Production Company: i60 Productions

Contacts

Press Contact
Josh Johnson
Tribeca Film Festival
Phone: +1 5124198749
joshjohnson@tribecafilmfestival.org

Print Source
Adam Yeremian
Promedia
New York City, NY 10019
Phone: +1 646 284 7140
adamyeremian(@)gmail.com

US Sales Contact
Priscilla Anany
i60 Productions llc
Staten Island, NY 10301
Phone: +1 646 420 4091
pjananyy(@)gmail.com

International Sales Contact
Priscilla Anany
i60 Productions llc
Staten Island, NY 10301
Phone: +1 646 420 4091
pjananyy(@)gmail.com


2017 | 21th Ecrans Noirs Film Festival | 15-23 juillet 2017, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
* Golden Screen (Écran d'Or), Best International Feature
(un trophée, un parchemin et une enveloppe de 5 000 euros offerts par la Royal Air Maroc).
www.ecransnoirs.org/index.php/ecransnoirs2017/ecrans-noirs-2017-les-resultats

2016 | Ghana Movie Awards 2016
* Nominated: Ghana Movie Award - Best Editing / Elizabeth Lee (editor)

2016 | Tribeca Film Festival (New York, USA)
* World Premiere: 17 April 2016
Won: Jury Award (Best New Narrative Director), to Priscilla Anany
Jury Comment: Jury Comment: "So many of the films we had the pleasure of viewing were expertly directed and worthy of recognition. The winning director presents a fearless and heart-wrenching tale of an embattled mother's high stakes journey to heal her sick child and ultimately herself. The film delicately and powerfully directs us through an emotionally resonant story that is dark for truthful reasons and simultaneously hopeful."
2nd place: Audience Award (Narrative)
Year: 2016
Length: 101 minutes
Language: Twi
Country: USA, Ghana
Premiere: World
https://tribecafilm.com/filmguide/archive/children-of-the-mountain-2016

2014 | Jerome Foundation, New York City
* Grant Program: New York City Film and Video
www.jeromefdn.org/node/662559