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= Amma Asante = ''This article is about the screenwriter. For the Dutch politician, see Amma Asante (politician).''

Amma Asante is a British Ghanaian filmmaker, screenwriter, and former actress, who was born in South London and raised in Streatham, in the year 1969. Growing up, her Ghanaian mother was an entrepreneur who owned her own African cosmetics and grocery store. Her father, also Ghanaian, was a trained accountant who later received qualifications to work in the United Kingdom. Her love for the film industry started when she received her first role in BBC’s Grange Hill. Later, she was given the opportunity to travel to Washington, DC, for an anti-drugs campaign, where she met former First Lady Nancy Reagan. Before the early 2000’s, Asante wrote and produced the BBC 2 series Brothers and Sisters, starring David Oyelowo.

Career
Amma Asante’s career started when she first attended a performing arts school, that allowed her to draft her first sitcom script. Later, she became a child actress and made her first appearances in Grange Hill and Desmonds. Her first film, A Way of Life, focused on the life of a single mother, played by Stephanie James. It details the reality of a woman who recounts the suicidal death of her mother and the presence of foster care, where her brother Gavin, played by Nathan Jones, was taken into. As a young seventeen-year-old, Leigh Anne (Stephanie James), finds it difficult to get by, especially due to the medical expenses that her daughter Eli Williams, incurred. It also touches on the theme of racism, with their neighbour Hassan Osman (played by Oliver Haden), who had been the victim of a beating, after being accused of reporting Leigh Anne to social services for child neglect. The film has been described as ‘one of the most warmly received UK titles in the London Film Festival in the autumn and a harrowing drama in social realist mode’.

Her second film, Belle, directed in 2013, is a sub-genre of both feminism and racism. Belle, based on a true story, took place in Britain, during the 18th century. It shows the life of a young black woman, named Dido Elizabeth Belle Lindsay (played by Gugu Mbatha-Raw). In this film, Dido was being raised by a white aristocratic family and acquires many intellectual skills. Dido uses her personal experiences to debate the social and structural issues of her time, like the patriarchy and lack of representation for visible minorities. Dido’s role in the film has been said to be “a way that is usually denied to historical black women”. The film touches on the Zong marine case, where the Captain falsely claims damages from his insurer for the loss of his 133 enslaved Africans. The Captain was not able to get compensated, so his case was escalated to the higher court, where Lord Chief Justice Mansfield, (Dido’s great-uncle and guardian), was in charge of.

In 2016, Asante directed the film A United Kingdom, in 2016, and features David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike. Oyelowo and Pike served as the main protagonists in the film, who were an interracial couple in the British Empire of London. They received a lot of backlash for their union and were later forced to move from their home country, Bechuanaland (Botswana). A United Kingdom is based on the Colour Bar book, written by Susan William’s, and details the story of Prince Seretse Khama and Ruth Williams. Brunson Green details the filming process by explaining “you could tell there were about 250 movie moments in this biography of this amazing couple, and so we kind of culled through all those moments and tried to figure out a storyline”. During the IFP Gotham Independent Film Awards ceremony, Oyelowo mentions adding A United Kingdom to his list of movies, for being an African based story directed by a female filmmaker.