ASANTE’S SURPRISE TREAT IN SILVER RAIN
The name Juliet Yaa Asantewa Asante will sound familiar to those who live by the camera. By several standards, she is a total artist. She is an actress, a storyteller, a cinematographer and lately a movie producer. Her latest effort, Silver Rain will start to show at the cinemas from May 29, a public holiday. Although the urge to spill the beans is much, it won’t be good to spoil Asante’s surprise party for everyone. Still, you should know if the movie is worth your time. Definitely, it is but you have to be patient because the first few minutes into it, you’d encounter fast-paced scenes that will eventually launch you into a proper plot. Asante owed the opening scenes to her background in documentary film making. Silver Rain is written and directed by Asante. She holds an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School, a Diploma from The New York Film Academy and a B.A. from the National Film and Television Institute of Ghana, Legon and Cape Coast University. She is also a regular writer for the Huffington Post and a Mentor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
The plot in Silver Rain is about Ajoa’s travail as a homeless market trader in Accra who falls in love with a rich society gentleman, Bruce. It started as a near-accident. Ajoa is crossing the road and is almost hit by Bruce’s luxury SUV. Thoroughly vexed, Bruce steps out of his vehicle and after making sure Ajoa is visibly unhurt, he offers her some money for medical check-up which she promptly declines. Frustrated, Bruce gets back into his car. But as he drives away from the scene, his conscience nudges him into action. He begs Ajoa and this time, she collects the money and a business card from him. But she never calls him. The first time she tries using a call centre’s handset, she ends the call abruptly, unsure of Bruce’s reaction. Bruce calls back and she is no longer there to receive his call.
Ajoa is a woman with a high selfesteem. Unlettered, she is determined to get off the streets by working ceaselessly to earn a living. Sadly for her and her fellow street traders, the corrupt police officers raid the streets, batter and arrest her. She has to call Bruce who bails her. He also gives her a phone and warns her not to come without notifying him. Seeing the danger in her chosen profession, Bruce offers Ajoa the job of a house keeper, changes her wardrobe and asks her to move in with him. Romance develops between Bruce and Ajoa to the chagrin of Bruce’s parents who have been trying to match make him with several beautiful women. Bruce calls his parent’s bluff and takes a now-beautiful Ajoa to an expensive restaurant where they attracted the attention of paparazzi. The result is a newspaper front-page embarrassment of the Timothy family.
One of Bruce’s girlfriends who fancies herself as his fiancée begins to maltreat Ajoa, reminding her that she is just a house help with benefits to Bruce. Bruce tries to set up a foundation that will reform young women and empower them with the help of Ajoa but the dream is beset by many challenges including Bruce’s fear of losing his stake in the family dynasty. The end of the story is unexpected but quite realistic in that in life, many marry, not their true love, but the one who is available.
Class struggle is chief among the themes of this drama. A pan African movie, the casting for Silver Rain cuts across five African countries namely South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. The story was pitched to enter the Sundance festival Scriptwriting Lab in 2011 and made it to the finals of the selection process As you may know, Sundance is one of the largest film festivals in the world. Although the script did not enter the lab, the panelists commented that it was a powerful story.
“We believe and know that Africa stands in a unique position to make an impact on the world through its films. One of the most important paths to achieving this is through the making of pan-African movies that leverages on our collective strengths as a continent. Silver Rain opens this door and calls on other players in the industry to push it wide open,” said Asante at a preview of the movie in Freedom Park, Lagos.
The movie was shot on the RED camera which is a regular high end quality camera recommended by many Hollywood filmmakers. The director of photography from South Africa, Nate Thomas, is regarded as one of the best in sub-Saharan Africa. He has made a name in the music videos industry on the continent. The production, done in Ghana and South Africa, is a collaboration between Eagle Productions limited and 4syte Studios.