Akosua Adoma Owusu’s surreal and subversive films are poetic hybrids that incorporate folklore, archival and found footage, Black pop culture icons, scenes of daily life, oral histories, and semi-autobiographical experiences. Owusu, who is first-generation Ghanaian American, addresses vexing issues of cultural memory and processes of assimilation for members of the African diaspora, including those like herself who were born in the US. Owusu appends scholar and civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois’ notion of double consciousness – the concept of the “warring” and irreconcilable ideals within African American identities – to encompass a “triple consciousness” or “third cinematic space,” contending with the conflicts and difficulties for African immigrants, women, or queer people existing between variable consciousnesses. Owusu’s 2013 short film Kwaku Ananse establishes her theoretical perspective, bringing together the mischievous folktale hero Ananse with a semi-autobiographical tale about a young woman grappling with family, existential crisis, the death of her estranged father – and her double life in the US. In Owusu’s interpretation, the young woman, who seeks the advice of Ananse, is shown preserving folkloric traditions, while also grappling with the truth that every individual has multiple conflicting aspects to their identity.
Madeline Weisburg
