USA / 2022 / 12mins / Documentary / Portrait / English

This short film is the beginning of a larger project documenting Baba Mpho Shanto, AKA Menes De Griot. A culture keeper of our time, Baba Mpho is actively preserving African traditions in the global community. Having grown up a member of the Komfa Spiritual Church in Guayana, Menes De Griot is continuing the works of his lineage by performing ceremonies for marriages, elders, births, and more. A phenomenal drummer, Kwe Kwe (pre-nuptial ritual) specialist, herbalist, and natural lifestyle consultant, Baba Mpho was initiated into the Ifa tradition by Chief Solagbade Popoola in Trinidad and Tobago. He has been playing drums for almost 60 years (professionally for more than 45 years), and he continues to perform ceremonies in Brooklyn and elsewhere. He is truly a force to be reckoned with.

AnAkA

AnAkA is a Brooklyn-based alchemist who applies ancestral root work techniques to their practices of herbalism, filmmaking, tattooing, photography, music, and movement. They utilize visual and sonic preservation as a tool to reclaim severed wisdoms, due to the echoing generational disturbances that global colonization has caused. Since 2014, AnAkA has been cultivating the AKTIV8 Archive, a preservation of the stories of Afro-Indigenous culture creators and current global movements. AnAkA has directed stories about change-makers for clients such as Nike, Vogue, and State Farm. Learn More