Hawa Essuman

Hawa Essuman

Biography

Born in 1980 in Hamburg, Hawa Essuman is the daughter of Ghanaian parents who brought her up in Nairobi,
Kenya. After performing in several plays and two films, she switched her attention to the other side of the camera,
working as a producer on TV documentaries and adverts. Her directorial debut came in 2007 for Kenyan TV series
MAKUTANO JUNCTION. That same year she wrote and shot her first feature SELFISH?, which was followed by three
short films. The 2010 family drama SOUL BOY about a Kenyan boy who tries to save his alcoholic father’s soul was
Hawa Essuman’s second feature film. Her documentary SILAS was screened at the 16th Afrika Film Festival Köln
in 2018 and it won the WDR-sponsored audience award for best documentary. She is the patron of the 2019 festival.

Filmography

AFRICAN SHORTS: OSTAFRIKA : Guest

SOUL BOY (2010): Guest, Screenplay, Direction

SILAS (2017): Guest, Direction

17. AFRIKA FILM FESTIVAL - ERÖFFNUNG / OPENING / OUVERTURE : Guest