USA, Ghana and Nigeria / 2015 / 70mins / Comedy / English and Pidgin

Pastor Paul tells the story of a white tourist in Africa who is cast to play a ghost in a Nollywood film and suddenly becomes actually possessed by a ghost. From that point on his trip to Africa takes an unexpected turn and his life slowly turns into something not unlike a Nollywood film. Framed as a Chaplin-esque fool, Benjamin wanders around cities and villages seeking the mathematical secrets buried inside African drumming, only to have his project disturbed by becoming a vessel for the spirit of a colonial-era white missionary. Suddenly he's prone to tourettic utterances, tongue-speaking bible quotes, words of his Nollywood character's namesake, Pastor Paul.

Jules David Bartkowski

Jules David Bartkowski made his directorial debut with Pastor Paul, which was first screened at the Alliance Francaise in Accra, Ghana, and went on to a sold out world premiere at Film at Lincoln Center as a part of the New York African Film Festival in May, 2016. The film was a co-production with Pidgen Films in Ghana. Bartkowski won an award for his performance in Pastor Paul at the Chicago Underground Film Festival. The film’s European premiere was at the International Filmmakers Festival in Berlin. Bartkowski is a life-long actor, musician, and writer whose work includes writing and directing the web series, Alouette (2012) in New Orleans, and lending voice talent to the short film Seriously Delinquent (2013). He is currently composing and producing the score for an upcoming film starring Willie Nelson, entitled My Cricket and Me, and has released three albums of original songs and videos under the pseudonym, Goolis. Learn More