Keswick Film Club - Queen Of Glory

Synopsis

PLEASE NOTE THE LATER START OF 5:30pm

We start this week's session with a new short, animated film, 'THE FELL WE CLIMB', produced by young Cumbrians in collaboration with mentors from Anti-Racist Cumbria, based on their own experiences of "what it's like growing up in Cumbria if you aren’t white". The film will be introduced by Keswick school pupil Millie Williams, and lead animator, Lou Kneath of +3K Animation. This took the best part of a year to produce and should be interesting from both a 'black lives matter' perspective and as a great way to support young talent.

It provides great support for our main feature 'QUEEN OF GLORY', a dry comedy about the problems of Ghanaian people living in New York.

"Actress Nana Mensah makes an impressive debut as a writer-director with 'Queen of Glory', a dry comedy of culture clashes, both ethnic and generational. Mensah fondly depicts the world of a Ghanaian American who has for the most part kept her heritage at a distance. But even in New York City, far from her homeland, she inevitably reconnects with tradition" – Pat Padua, Washington Post.

"At the beginning of the film, Sarah is planning to drop out of grad school and move to Ohio with her married lover, who has been offered a university teaching position there. That changes when she gets a phone call informing her that her mother, Grace, has suddenly died from an aneurysm. The news throws Sarah for a loop and suddenly the life she's mapped out for herself seems less feasible, if not completely implausible. Instead of running off to the Midwest, Sarah returns to her childhood home in the Bronx and tries to navigate the aftermath of her mother's death, including planning a traditional funeral and running her family's Christian bookstore" – Lovia Gyarkye, Hollywood Reporter.

Mensah wrote, directed, and stars in the film, which was completed in 30 days, but took over seven years total to complete. Mensah stated that frustration with limited and stereotypical roles led her to create the film as an artistic outlet: "I wasn’t given artistic opportunities anywhere else, so I had to go out and make some." The film was funded through investors, Kickstarter campaigns, and Mensah's own savings.