'Gbonyo Party' Marince Omario

Andy Madjitey directs ‘Gbonyo Party’ for Marince Omario.

Inspired by Ghanaian funeral culture, exploring love and the cycle of life.

Filmed in Ghana, West Africa.

Words from Andy below.

Andy, can you elaborate on the core concept and its relationship to Marince Omario’s music?

Ghanaian funeral culture is fascinating in many ways. We have gotten global attention for our fancy coffins and dancing pallbearers. The idea was to present the theatricality of it, nuances of grief and the concept of rebirth.

The idea was to present the theatricality of it, nuances of grief and the concept of rebirth.

Marince Omario, an absolute master of words, is addressing a subject/muse who was mourning the loudest at the burial and dancing the hardest at the “funeral party”. A contradiction that might be startling to people that are unfamiliar with how we mourn our deceased.

Can you share some details on the more DIY and improvisational aspects of the film?

Logistically, it was far from an ideal situation in terms of resources.

We had to use fabric as lens filtration among other compromises. These moments however reinforced the awareness that we were making something important to us and nothing was going to get in the way.

Cast was mostly friends and crew. One staff lady at the lodge we camped brought her sister-in-law who could cry real tears on cue. We randomly found a hearse after day one of filming. It was as if the universe was making up for the things we lacked.

These moments however reinforced the awareness that we were making something important.

I’m intrigued by the video’s structure of vignettes, can you talk about that?

It was important to us that it felt like a recollection. Conversations leading to this were about more about portraying moments that communicated individually, then collectively.