ADinkra

Official selection: Film Africa & Women of the Lens Festival (2025)
Pan African Film Festival - Oscar Qualifying Shorts festival (2026)
Awards : WOTL: Best Narrative short & Best Actor - Nominated (2025)

ADINKRA (2025)

Short film

Adinkra is a grounded supernatural short film exploring ancestry, identity, and the quiet persistence of memory.As symbolic traces of the past begin to surface within the present, an unseen inheritance reveals itself; suggesting that what has been forgotten is not gone, but waiting to be remembered.Inspired by West African Adinkra symbolism, the film examines the invisible relationship between personal identity and ancestral knowledge.

Runtime: 7 mins 38s

Country: United Kingdom

Language: English, Akan

Director’s statement

Adinkra is a deeply personal film that reflects my own journey of self-discovery and reconnection with ancestral wisdom. As a British-born storyteller of Ghanaian heritage, I’ve often found myself living between worlds, at once proud of my roots, yet at times distant from them. This film is my response to that in-between space: where tradition, mystery, and modernity intersect to shape identity in ways we don’t always realise.

The film draws inspiration from the Adinkra symbols of the Akan people of Ghana, over 200 visual emblems that each represent a proverb, a truth, or a warning. These symbols are more than design; they are repositories of African philosophy, passed down through generations via oral tradition. As the proverb says, “When an elder dies, a library burns to the ground.” With each generation, we risk losing these libraries unless we actively preserve and reimagine them.

I see filmmaking as my way of doing that, preserving stories, amplifying voices, and inviting new audiences into this wisdom. West African proverbs are not just cultural artefacts; they are living philosophies that hold universal relevance. We turn to Greek or Eastern philosophies for guidance, yet African thought, just as profound, is often overlooked. With Adinkra, I hope to change that.

Visually and tonally, the film draws from the raw stillness of Euphoria’s “Trouble Don’t Last Always,” where the power lies in conversation and quiet moments. The magical elements are subtle, revealed rather than imposed, evoking a sense of wonder. We used minimal visual effects to enhance the presence of the unseen and the symbolic. The colour palette leans into warm golds and grounded neutrals, evoking memory, spirit, and transformation.
The original score blends European and West African instruments, with a quiet Ghanaian motif woven throughout. It mirrors the protagonist’s inner journey, guiding the viewer through silence, mystery, and awakening.

This is my directorial debut and the beginning of a wider creative universe I’m building, one that fuses African philosophy, speculative storytelling, and personal mythology into cinematic form. Though Adinkra is a self-contained short, its themes, characters, and spiritual questions offer space for expansion.

This film is for anyone seeking to reclaim their heritage, embrace their identity, or find strength in the wisdom of those who came before us. It’s a cinematic offering for the diaspora, and beyond. Because African wisdom is not just for Africans. It is for everyone.