Interview: Award Winning Actress and Filmmaker Anniwaa Buachie
ANNIWAA BUACHIE: A recipient of the Alan Bates Award and New York International Film Festival Award, Anniwaa Buachie is a Ghanaian-British actress, filmmaker, and writer, shifting sands in the entertainment industry, globally. She has a wealth of experience in TV and film, Ghana, the UK, and the USA. A woman of many talents, she has expanded her passion for storytelling to her writing. In 2020 she was commissioned by BAFTA-nominated British production company Kandu Arts to write, direct, and produce a collection of short films. Proud of her African- Ghanaian heritage, she has been in development with an Oscar-nominated production company for the limited series she co-created, Uproot. Her work continually explores the complicated relationship between Africa and Great Britain.
What led to you becoming an actor and filmmaker?
As a child, I always wanted to be someone else. I would immerse myself in stories, constantly imagining myself as the main protagonist. I wanted excitement, adventure and spontaneity and with acting you always get that. As I get older, wiser and more experienced it is not enough to play a role in a story….no I want to create the stories and place people like me (Black, female and fabulous) at the centre of the action. This is what now propels me as a filmmaker.
What inspires and influences your work?
Very difficult question to answer. I’m like a sponge, so many things inspire me. My Ghanaian culture influences my work. Growing up as a child of immigrants, in South London with fellow immigrant children I have been exposed to a range of cultures which influence my work. I am curious and love to listen to Latin and African music, art, and dance and dissect how this is different from European/ Western standards. As I belong somewhere in the middle, in the in-between world a land of the dual identity cultural scope, I draw from this place to create eclectic pieces of work.
Who are some of your favorite characters that you’ve undertaken?
I played the leading role in the play: Medea of Darfur a play by playwright Zoe Simon. It was the classic Greek tale of Medea, reimagined. Medea was a Sudanese immigrant, and her Jason – a white British man. As the tale goes, Medea kills her children to spite Jason. This role was exciting to play, as most dramas tend to present women in a way that compliments the patriarchy, you know damsel in distress. However, this role rejected that in the most visceral way.
It naturally goes against every bone in my body to even think of harming a child, but within this role I had to delve deep, I had to make it make sense to me as to why a woman, a mother would. It took a lot out of me emotionally but reminded me that when undertaking a character refrain from judgment. All actions have consequences, and the character does what it can to survive mentally, spiritually, and emotionally.
What have been some of the greatest challenges of your career?
I think it’s always a challenge to convince someone to give you a chance. Acting is such a tricky career path… out of all the creative arts, it’s one that you heavily rely on other people. To a certain extent, you can create your own skits and shows..but ultimately you need people to react to your actions and vice versa.
Sounds pompous…. But it has taken a lot of reflection, growth, and development to admit, that the greatest challenge honestly, is to know how talented I am, how unique I am as an actress, and trying to convince the industry to see what I see.
But I actually don’t give a f*^k anymore...I’m rewriting the rules!
It is my understanding that you’ve had the opportunity to direct, write and/or act under Kandu Arts. Can you tell us more about your time working there?
I have had a long relationship with Kandu Arts, I worked and collaborated with them at the very start of my career, on a project that focused on the rise of gentrification within London. In April 2020 in the midst of Covid, sitting in my LA apartment, trying to figure out what the hell to do. Kandu Arts approached me to create a series of short films about different facets of my experiences from my African heritage, to societal perceptions of being a black woman to depression. These films were a way to highlight and shatter the strong black, militant woman trope. Having the freedom to create work that is honest, pure, and potent is why I love working with Kandu Arts. You are not put in a box, Kandu Arts encourages you to break it.
How can fans and supporters best support you right now?
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