USA / 2013 / 15mins / Drama / English and French

Inspired by the New York v. Strauss Kahn case, Aissa’s Story is a film about Aissatou Bah, an African immigrant housekeeper and single mother recovering from a brutal sexual assault by Henrik Keppler, a wealthy hotel guest. After the Manhattan District Attorney decides not to take the case to trial - due to a lie Aissa told to get asylum - Aissa struggles to move on with her life. But when her daughter Rama gets bullied, Aissa must find a way to regain Rama’s trust, find justice and her lost dignity.

Iquo B. Essien

Iquo B. Essien is a Nigerian-American writer, director and photographer. Her short film, Aissa’s Story, was a regional semifinalist in the 2013 Student Academy Awards. Ms. Essien adapted the short into a feature screenplay while writing a memoir, Elizabeth’s Daughter, about losing her mother to cancer and finding herself through writing. Ms. Essien drafted a debut novel, Alligator Legs, for which she received a 2009 Hedgebrook Writers’ Residency. Her publishing credits include the Dreams at Dawn anthology, as well as online and print magazines NigeriansTalk, The African Magazine, PopMatters, and the Stanford Black Arts Quarterly. Ms. Essien attended Stanford University and New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Film Program. Her production company, Editi Films, is fiscally sponsored by Fractured Atlas, a charitable organization that helps artists and art organizations create engaging, publicly beneficial work. Iquo divides her time between Brooklyn and Lagos, and writes a popular blog, Alligator Legs, about art and life. Learn More