THE MOURNER SHORT FILM IS FINALLY READY FOR PRODUCTION Y'ALL!!

Several (30?) drafts and about 2 years of sitting on this project later...

Logline: A professional Ghanaian funeral crier relocates to the English countryside for a fresh start. When her presence coincides with a series of mysterious deaths, she uncovers a shocking obsession that threatens to destroy her new life.

Ok, this is what I put in the Pitch Deck: The Mourner is an incredibly personal story that explores themes of grief, cultural displacement & rebirth. On the surface, it’s about the collision of two worlds: the colourful, expressive mourning traditions of the Ghanaian-Ashanti culture vs. the restrained, melancholic approach to death in the West, but at its heart, the story is about belonging - Ohemaa’s need to find her place in an unfamiliar world while still wanting to honour the identity and roots that shaped her. It’s a burden I too feel often as a diasporan, balancing the identities of being British and Ghanaian.

The real spiel: The Mourner is a deeply personal story which was birthed after my maternal Grandfather's funeral. That was the day I realised grief manifests in everyone differently - to some, it's the quiet drops of tears behind thick, black sunglasses. For others, it's an entire performance - body convulsions and sharp wails that flood the room. For a tiny majority, it's a profession - a calling, a purpose and a way to pay the bills. This short film intends to capture the beauty of the performance of grief through the latter. My main character is a professional mourner who relocates from Ghana to Cornwall on one of those care worker visas. She's got no professional experience, but wanted to move out of Ghana asap after catching her husband cheating. We follow her as she looks after a bunch of old, English residents in the retirement home. After a patient suddenly dies, the real Ohemaa comes alive. I don't want to ruin the rest but it's a thriller with some dark comedy (I know… it’s perfect)

Some visuals

Why crowdfunding?

Getting out my comfort zone and putting myself "out there" artistically is one of my personal goals for 2025. Also...we legit need money. Every member of production is getting paid properly - no compromises.

Half of this film is being shot in Accra, Ghana and my personal mandate is to make sure Ghanaian creatives are paid and treated as equally as our UK cast and crew. That's also what inspired The Writers Room Ghana, an organisation I launched to support playwrights and screenwriters in Ghana and advocate for fair and equal pay (Shameless plug).

Our total budget for this film is $15,000.

One third of the total ($5,000) will be self-funded. We're looking out and applying for grants as and when they come, but we know the chances of this are small, so we're being proactive by setting up this page on crowdfundr!