Yvonne Ossei, also known as Awura Adjoa is a Ghanaian born actress and award-winning writer based in the UK.
Yvonne is the first African woman to win a British Urban Film Festival Award and believes, “it would be great to see more women making films, and I hope to contribute to the booming industry.”
The winning script she wrote titled ‘Face Up,’ highlights the plight of two sisters who undergo Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), a process that is practised in numerous African, and some European countries. The panel of judges was not just impressed with the quality of the script but with the boldness of subject matter.
Her script was performed at the U.K’s Channel 4 Studios and she says “it is an overwhelming achievement for me because African women are hardly ever represented in this industry on an international level.”
Yvonne observes that “women are readily accepted as actresses, but face obstacles when it comes to writing and directing because those roles were traditionally reserved for men. I hope I can go some way into changing that mentality.”
Her second venture is a film she has written and starred in, called ‘Sometimes I Feel.’ It details the harsh reality of domestic violence, a problem that thousands of women face in silence. “It’s been tough because when you’re dealing with such a serious subject matter the script and performances have to be as sincere as possible. Even the rehearsals were difficult.”
The film is in the production stages and is due to be screened/released in late 2014 on the international film festival circuit.
Yvonne is inspired by the likes of Ghanaian writer/director Shirley Frimpong-Manso, (director of Adam’s Apples) and states that “Shirley’s work has set a precedent for others to follow.”
Yvonne has several projects in store, some of which she plans to undertake in Ghana, “I am excited about the future, and my motherland is definitely a part of that.”
