Ghana / 1980 / 125mins / Comedy, Drama / English

An African classic, Love Brewed in the African Pot is an interpretation of Romeo and Juliet set in colonial Ghana, that explores tensions between tradition and modernity. A young woman, Aba Appiah, with a posh Cape Coast education falls in love with a semi-literate auto mechanic, Joe Quansah. The marriage outrages her father, who expects her to marry the man of his choice. This family conflict leads to complex and unforeseen consequences. The film won the Omarou Ganda Prize for ‘most remarkable direction and production in line with African realities’ at the seventh Pan-African Film Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO). A comic book based on the film was released in 2014.

Kwaw Ansah

Kwaw Paintsil Ansah was born in 1941 in Agona Swedru, Ghana. He studied Theater Design at the London Polytechnic, before studying Performing Arts at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts of New York from 1963 to 1965. He founded the Abibirma Players in 1964, and his play The Adoption was produced off-Broadway in 1964. In 1965 he moved to Los Angeles to study at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, and worked at RKO Studios. Soon after his return to Ghana in 1965 he became an executive member of the Ghana Drama Association and the Ghana Association of Writers, and an officer of the Film Guild of Ghana. His play Mother's Tears was performed in Accra in 1967, and was instantly successful. In 1977, Ansah founded his film production company, Film Africa Limited. Ansah is a crusader for African filmmaking and dramatic art, working ceaselessly for improved funding and distribution of African films within Africa. He has been chairman of FEPACI and a leader in the direction of FESPACO. In 1998, Kwaw Ansah was awarded the Acrag Prize, the Living Legend Award for Contribution to the Arts of Ghana. Learn More