Kobina Amissah-Sam
Ghanaian actor, Kobina Amissah-Sam known widely as Kobina Sam makes a priceless return to the screens with his first major project after the world-storming ‘Beast Of No Nation’.
After playing the role of “Father’’ to the lead character ‘Agu’ played by Ghanaian-born Hollywood actor Abraham Attah in the 2015 Netflix thriller dubbed “Beast Of No Nation” starring Idris Elba and directed by Cary Fukunaga, multi-talented actor Kobina Sam has been off major roles on the screen for some time.
He made a brief appearance in Peter Sedufia’s multiple award-winning ‘Sidechic Gang’ comedy earlier in 2018 and finally came back to full flight with his supporting role in the movie “THE BURIAL OF KOJO’’
In THE BURIAL OF KOJO, Kobina Sam is entrusted with the role of ‘Kwabena’ who is the elder brother to the lead character ‘Kojo’ played by Joseph Otsiman. A sorrowful accident occurs on the day of Kwabena’s wedding as Kojo causes an accident which takes the life of Kwabena’s newly wedded wife.
Kwabena hatches an elaborate plan to seek revenge on Kojo by luring him to an abandoned mine, knocks him unconscious into the mine shaft and leaves him to die there.
Kobina Sam who is known for his skilful story-telling style especially regarding emotional movies as seen in his role in BEAST OF NO NATION took the story to heart and executed to perfection the role of ‘Kwabena’. Many a critic who has watched the movie could not skip commending the role of Kobina in the entirety of the success chalked by THE BURIAL OF KOJO.
The movie stars fellow producer, Ama K. Abebrese as Esi, Kobina Amissah-Sam as Kwabena, Joseph Otsiman as Kojo and Henry Adofo as Apalu among others.
The Burial of Kojo’ took home an award for Best Narrative Feature (World Cinema) at the Urbanworld Film Festival.
The movie which was shot in 2017 was first premiered in London, UK on 1st November 2018 and in Ghana at the Westhills Mall on 1st December 2018. The Accra Premiere had three shows with thousands of people queueing up to watch the movie.
THE STORY
This tale follows a family of four: Esi, the inquisitive, wildly perceptive daughter, Kojo, a silent lover and father concealing secrets we can’t predict, Ama, the wife and mother with stirring facial expressions yet very few words, and Kwabena, Kojo’s enigmatic brother whose intentions we cannot easily place. The energy that flows between this ensemble makes the film compelling and heartbreaking, however it doesn’t allow for each character to express themselves to their fullest extent. This decision lends insight to the nature of narration: when we enter a story, we are usually guided by one point of view, and this sets up a relationship that is not completely trustworthy, no matter how entangled we are in the narrator’s emotions. There’s more than one side to every story.
We are encouraged to believe that Kojo and Kwabena are the heart of this tale. Seven years ago, Kojo’s mistake leads to a fatal incident that both he and his brother can never forgive. Kojo has created his own version of purgatory by running away, settling in a new community and starting a family, in hopes of escaping his past. Esi, the light of his eyes, possesses the gift of traveling between this world and the spiritual realm, which causes her great discomfort until Kojo is finally able to acknowledge his past wrongdoings. Surrounding their troubles is the widespread threat of galamsey—illegal mining—environmental and infrastructure issues and unproductive foreign intervention for profit that is occurring in parts of Ghana. All of these elements are sewn together with the sins of Kojo and the burden it places on his powerful and intuitive daughter.
