At the just-ended Africa Narrative-Change Film Awards, the Creative Director at Mills Media Limited, Jesse Sunkwa-Mills, was honoured with the Africa Narrative Change Award.

The Ghanaian filmmaker received the award because of his tireless work of using compelling storylines to challenge widespread harmful stereotypical narratives about Africa or Africans, within and outside the continent.

The Africa Narrative-Change Film Awards is the fruit of a collaboration between Africa No Filter (ANF) and Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF), announced just this year on September 20.  The award is part of Africa No Filter’s broader advocacy campaign that is calling for better representation of Africa to show a dynamic, creative and evolving continent.

It was Asantewaa: Battle for the Golden Stool, a hit animated movie by Jesse Sunkwa-Mills, that earned him the victory at the Africa Narrative-Change Film Awards, Saturday, November 11, 2023, in Lagos, Nigeria.

Apart from the recognition, applause, and the chance to network with other brilliant African creatives, Sunkwa-Mills received a US$5000 cash-prize for his multiple award-winning film, which is about the storied Asante Kingdom's resistance of British colonial powers, spearheaded by the iconic Nana Yaa Asantewaa I, Queen Mother of Ejisu. 

| Jesse Sunkwa-Mills and Michael Dake, Business Development Manager at Mills Media Limited, accepting the award on stage

| L-R: Michael Dake, Segun Arinze and Jesse Sunkwa Mills

AFRICA NO FILTER (ANF)

Africa No Filter exists because many stories about Africa still lazily revolve around the single story of poor leadership, poverty, corruption, disease, and conflict. These stories fail to portray the other more progressive side of Africa and collectively perpetuate the narrative that Africa is broken, dependent and lacks agency. The result? Harmful stereotypes that continue to paint a rigidly negative picture of the continent, despite the massive strides we are making. Our mission at Africa No Filter is to shift these stereotypes because they impact the way the world sees Africa and how Africa sees itself. Through research, grant-making, community building and advocacy, we support storytellers to help shift the stereotypical narratives about Africa, one story at a time. Our funders are the Ford Foundation, Bloomberg, Mellon Foundation, Luminate, Open Society Foundations, Comic Relief, the Hilton Foundation, and Hewlett Foundation.

AFRICA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (AFRIFF)

The Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF), conceived by Ms Chioma Ude, is a world-class showcase that celebrates cinema and filmmaking talent from Africa and the diaspora. It consistently delivers a rich programme to foster invaluable exchanges of ideas, production connections, and business relationships. It creates an energetic and exciting hub for entertainment industry professionals to make rewarding connections and has gradually gained a reputation for delivering Africa’s most vibrant film festival experience. Its objectives are to develop the film industry to a level where the products compete favorably with their contemporaries all over the world; provide a growth opportunity for these film industry professionals to eventually export their products to the world; and facilitate access to investors, equipment, technical and skill acquisition through festivals, organised fora and several capacity development workshops. Visit www.afriff.com.