Leila Djansi
Africa’s leading pay TV service provider, StarTimes, will premiere Leila Djansi’s latest award winning movie, ’40 & Single’, on December 2.
The TV series which won the Audience Award for Episodic Pilot at the 2018 LA Film Festival will be aired exclusively in HD on StarTimes’ Adepa TV Channel 247.
Leila’s ‘40 & Single’ features Hollywood movie stars like Vanessa Williams, Leon Robinson, John Savage and Miranda Bailey, as well as ace Ghanaian actors such as David Dontoh, Fred Amugi, Adjetey Annan, John Dumelo, Rama Brew, Grace Omaboe, Doris Sackitey, Nikki Samonas, Joselyn Dumas, Luckei E. Lawson, Marie Humbert, Deon Matthews, among others.
’40 & Single’ is an invitation into the tumultuous life of Ebaner Temple- a bi-racial, bi-sexual, single, bridal fashion designer. We witness her manoeuvre life in the African city of Accra, Ghana, where race and colourism have significant colonial roots and neo-colonial implications.
Ebaner’s life and the lives of her clients intertwine as they explore the new age of the African woman, her independence and her challenges in a patriarchal society.
In the vein of ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ and ‘Being Mary Jane’, ‘40 & Single’ explores the current phase of social change in Africa through the eyes of Ebaner, a 36-year old eccentric, sometimes unscrupulous high fashion designer armed with a PHD in business administration who swings between the desire to be married and the freedom of being single.
She runs her fashion design outfit- Banner Bride- with a firm but fair hand.
Ebaner was fathered by a Caucasian man who abandoned her and her mother because he found them too ethnic for his White-American pedigree. This early childhood abandonment greatly impacts Ebaner’s sense of identity and self-worth.
Hiding behind the drive for success, Ebaner avoids the real questions that torment her, battling daily who she would rather be— a black woman, or merely a product of colonialism, whilst also taking advantage of the mixed race privileges available to her within the African social construct.
’40 & Single’ is directed by renowned filmmaker and BAFTA/LA Award-winning writer, director, and producer, Leila Djansi.
StarTimes will use the six episode TV series to entertain its cherished subscribers during the festive season. The presence of top Hollywood actors and actresses with Ghana’s finest and veteran acts gives the movie a lot to desire.
‘’We won’t relent on our plans to serve Ghanaians with the best of content this yuletide. We are bent on providing the best family entertainment series to our cherished customers,” head of Marketing, Akofa Djankui, said.