A co-production between Ghana (Isaac’s Films) and the USA (Rasquaché Films), Nakom had its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival (Berlinale) earlier this year and was the first Ghanaian production to ever screen at the festival in its 66-year history…
Co-directors Travis Pittman and Kelly Daniela Norris co-founded the indie production house Rasquaché Films in 2009. The company prides itself on its efforts to achieve artistry and emotional impact with very few resources. Nakom is just that, a poignant and resounding narrative told in an exquisitely cinematic fashion – all on a “micro budget”.
Pittman says the inspiration for the film arose during her time living and working in the Ghanaian village of Nakom prior to the making of the film. The idea grew from a collaboration between her and the film’s co-writer and producer Isaac Adakudugu, who is a native of the village of Nakom. “He became a close friend and collaborator when I had been living and working in Nakom several years before setting out to make the film,” says Pittman. “The film is the story of the community at a key moment in its development – as it tries to find its place in a changing Ghana, a changing environment, and a changing world.”
An intimate narrative
Nakom is a uniquely intimate narrative from northern Ghana, which follows a talented and promising medical student Iddrisu (Jacob Ayanaba) back to his home village after his father’s sudden death. There, he must come to terms with the traditional way of living that he has tried to leave behind, while also negotiating the strong personalities in his family as he reluctantly becomes its head-of-household following his father’s death. Upon returning home, Iddrisu also begins to realise that his education and experience are needed in his village but he has to come to terms with whether or not he wants to take on the considerable task. In the end, he faces a dire choice between two very different futures.
“We wanted to tell the story of the village,” says Adakudugu. “The idea of a young person trying to leave their community but then being forced back by a death in the family or another problem is very common, but also serious and important to the life of the village. It is something that we are all thinking about as villages like Nakom are trying to find a place in the 21st century and in a ‘globalised’ Africa.”
A community effort
The film was shot almost entirely in the village of Nakom, with a few scenes captured in the markets and stations of the surrounding towns, and some key scenes shot in the city of Kumasi in southern Ghana. Filming took over three months, from August through November of 2013, in order to capture the transformation of the village from dry season to rainy season to harvest. However, the village of Nakom was not used solely for location or talent – “the whole community was involved in the production and also felt responsible for it,” comments Adakudugu. “We opened our arms and hearts and homes to the idea of telling this story. Everybody here knows Trav, and also her directing partner Kelly Daniela Norris – they are both considered daughters of the community. This production would not have been possible without that very close relationship, people would not have agreed to it.”
Auditions were held in the village of Nakom for nearly all of the roles in the film, with only the main character, Iddrisu, being cast form outside the village. “We needed an actor who spoke fluent Kusaal and English, and who also could appropriately show the film audience the two worlds that Iddrisu is struggling with. We were very lucky to find Jacob Ayanaba to play the role – he is a natural talent,” Adakudugu says.
A throwback to David Lean
Pittman explains that Nakom was carefully composed and shot in way that would give the film a classic, thoughtful, and sweeping feel – “a throwback to David Lean or to the early films of Sissako,” she states. “Featuring big landscapes, composed character frames, steady tracking shots…We felt this was the best way to capture the steady pace of life and also the elemental power of the landscape that is so important to the characters’ livelihoods. This aesthetic also helped to bring a polish and production value to what was a micro-budget production.”
Director of photography Bob Geile captured the visuals in HD on the Sony FS100 which was selected for its versatility, durability in harsh conditions, as well as battery life and onboard memory as the village of Nakom itself does not have electricity. “…we knew that charging batteries and offloading footage would be a challenge,” comments Pittman, “Thanks to smart lens selection by our cinematographer – as well as his and Miss Norris’ excellent eye for composition – the look of the film was able to achieve a polish beyond our meager resources.”
Festivals and distribution
Nakom was completed on a budget of just $30 000 USD, and the filmmakers are enormously proud of having it screen at Berlinale. Additionally, the film screened at New Directors/New Films in the USA and in Hong Kong. It will screen next at the Durban International Film Festival this June where it will compete in the main competition.
Nakom was recently picked up by North American distributor Corinth Films and is due to start screening on the art house market there, but Pittman says they are still seeking other global partners. “A huge priority is screening the film in Ghana and throughout the African continent, and we hope that the festival in Durban can be an opportunity to make contacts to that end.”
Tradition versus modernity
Nakom showcases how the tensions of development and globalisation play out within a single family of subsistence farmers: The main character is forced to leave university to take on this traditional way of living because of his father’s death; his sister Damata (Grace Ayariga) experiences anger and frustration as her education is abandoned because of her gender; his mother must come to terms with changing traditions and norms. “Above all, it is a story about the unique personalities of this family – but hopes to say something bigger and more universal through that intimacy and specificity,” says Pittman, who highlights that the creative team behind Nakom was purposefully multinational – in order to bring a layered perspective to issues that have large consequences for the whole world. “In our view the film does not have a black-and-white message that we are trying to communicate, but instead presents a nuanced view of a very particular village, community, and lifestyle. In a way, that nuance itself is the message – that happiness is present but elusive everywhere, that there’s no such thing as linear development or a ‘right’ way of living on the planet, that the struggles of the individual versus the community or of tradition versus modernity are universal ones.”
