SakawaBen Asamoah

“Beautiful lonely woman looks for love on Facebook. She would love to visit you, if you could just send some money so she can apply for a visa.” We’ve all received them: emails in which someone asks for some money in order to obtain an inheritance or get lottery money. This type of internet fraud has been around for a long time. For many young people in Ghana, it is their only way out of poverty. For his debut film, the Belgian-Ghanaian filmmaker Ben Asamoah returns to his homeland and introduces you to the people behind the emails. Meet your scammer!

A wealth of information is hidden in the mountain of burning e-waste in Ghana. If you have some skills you can easily grab a pile of hard disks and download photos and private data from rich Westerners. In a dusty bar, sakawas hang out to exchange tips. OneDollar knows how to drive men completely crazy with his fake account. A picture of a busty woman and some flattering phrases with a high-pitched voice, that’s all he needs. Young mother Ama wants to earn some quick money to start her own business. A seasoned sakawa tries to teach her the trade, but it is trickier than it looks. To convince difficult customers, the sakawa resort to the black magic of local voodoo priestesses. The combination of modern communication and old rituals brings hope for a better life.



Economy Africa Media Mildly comical Dutch spoken or subtitled

Vertoond op editie(s) 2019
Screened at edition(s) 2019

Info

Directed by Ben Asamoah
Belgium, The Netherlands
2018 21 min.
Engels
Subtitles: Dutch

Programme

Belgian selection

credits
Director

Ben Asamoah

Script

Ben Asamoah

Production company

Inti Films, Pieter Van Huystee

Cinematography

Jonathan Wannyn

Editing

Tom Denoyette, Simon Schuurman

Music

Feras Daouk, Laurens Desmet

Contact info
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(en screener)
(beschikbaar vanaf 20.03)