The Ties That Bind (Ghana: 2011)

Director

Leila Afua Djansi

Cast list

Ama Abebrese : Buki Ocansey
Kofi Adjorlolo : Fathe
Khareemar Aguiar: Estelle
Ebbe Bassey: Maa Dede
Randall Batinkoff: Dan Dubick

Credits

Writing credits: Leila Afua Djansi

Theodore Baidoo: producer
Dave Harper: executive producer
Amanda Jissie: co-producer
Winrich Kolbe : supervising producer
Rita Tsikudo: line producer
Whitney Valcin: co-producer
Adam Wilkinson: co-producer

Synopsis

Set in the village of Kroboland, Ghana, this film tells the story ofthree women: Adobea, Buki, and Theresa. Despite their different walks of life and individual struggles, they are united by the pain of losing a child. Buki is a doctor who plans to transform an abandoned house that villagers claim to be haunted into a clinic. Buki encounters Adobea, a childhood friend who is pregnant and unaware of an illness that causes her to cough up blood. Adobea’s husband’s family claims that she is cursed after several of her children die under mysterious circumstances. Buki and her husband seek counseling to address their marital problems largely created by their childless relationship. Their marital counselor, Theresa, struggled with drug addiction and post-partum depression twelve years ago that resulted in her husband taking their child away; Theresa works with a case investigator with the hope of reuniting with the daughter she hasn’t seen in years. A drama that weaves mysticism and supernatural elements into its storyline, these women develop a bond and learn from their collective experiences of redemption, love, and forgiveness as they restore the house into a clinic for the villagers.

Reviews

Tambay A. Obenson, Leila Djansi's "Ties That Bind" Tops Ghana Movie Awards Nominations w/ 21 Nods. Indiewire (independent film website)

Sandra Appiah, Leila Djansi’s New Film, Ties That Bind, Catches Holl
ywood’s Attention
. Face2Face Africa. (pan-African media group)

Vanessa Martinez, ABFF 2012 Review: Leila Djansi's Emotionally Rich, Thought-Provoking 'Ties That Bind.’ Indiewire (independent film website)

Academic Articles:

African Video Movies and Global Desires: A Ghanian History by Carmela Garritano. Ohio University Research in International Studies, Africa Series No. 91 (2013), p. 154-194.

“Leila’s Ties That Bind Making News.” The Ghanaian Chronicle. 10 June 2011: Print.

Other movies from Ghana made in

Title Country Year Director More infos
Death After Birth Ghana 2011 Pascal Amanfo
Mekel’s Angels Ghana 2011 Kelvin Dodzi Amewu
Adams Apples Ghana 2011 Shirley Frimpong-Manso
Sinking Sands Ghana 2011 Leila Afua Djansi
The Ties That Bind Ghana 2011 Leila Afua Djansi
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