Top 10 Facts about Amma Asante

Amma Asante at the Miami Film Festival presentation of “Sidetracked”. Photo by MiamiFilmFestival-Wikimedia

Top 10 Facts about Amma Asante

Amma Asante is a British screenwriter, filmmaker, former actress, and Chancellor at Norwich University of the Arts. She has of Ghanaian descent because of her parents, but she was born in London. Amma’s love for film started when she received her first role in BBC’s Grange Hill.

Amma was a childhood friend of model Naomi Campell, whom she met when they were seven years old.

Learn more about Amma Asante in these top 10 facts.

1. Amma Asante’s Parents are Ghanaian

Amma was born to Ghanaian parents on September 13, 1969, in Lambeth, London. Her father was an accountant who had received qualification to work in the United Kingdom and her mother was an entrepreneur who owned her African cosmetic and grocery shop.

She attended the Barbara Speake Stage School in Acton for her formal education. At the school, she was trained in dance and drama.

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2. Amma Started Her Career as a Child Actor

Amma Asante. Photo by Ross-Wikimedia Commons

She started her career when she first attended a performing arts school that gave her the opportunity to draft her first sitcom script. Amma later became a child actress and made her first appearance on television in Grange Hill and Desmond’s.

In her teens, she left acting and worked in screenwriting with a development deal from Chrysalis. She later established a production company, Tantrum Films, where she wrote and produced two series of the BBC Two drama Brothers and Sisters released in 1998.

3. Amma Made Her Directorial Debut in 2004

Amma used her production company, Tantrum Films, to create her directorial debut with a feature film, A Way of Life. The film was developed and financed through the UK Film Council and produced by Peter Edwards, Patrick Cassavetti and Charlie Hanson.

Her first film has been described as one of the most warmly received UK titles in the London Film Festive in the autumn and a harrowing drama in the social realist mode. This film was a significant breakthrough for Amma, as he received many awards for directorial skills in the movies.

In November 2004, Amma received the Carl Foreman Award for Special Achievement from a British writer, director, or producer in the Their First Feature Film, in 2005 the Miami International Film Festival awarded the film as Best Dramatic feature in World Cinema and also the Mar del Plata Film Festival in Argentina, Amma was awarded by San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain and many other awards

4. Amma Received Prestigious Honors

In 2017, she was appointed a member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for service to film. Additionally, she became the first woman to receive the British Urban Film Festival honorary award in 2018 from actress Dona Croll for her outstanding condition in film and television.

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5. She Directed “A United Kingdom” Film

Amma Asante. Photo by Ross-Wikimedia Commons

Amma directed A United Kingdom film in 2016; the film is an interracial romance that features David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike portraying the main protagonists of the real-life story.

The film is based on the 2006 book by historian Susan Williams titled Colour Bar: The Triumph of Seretse Khama and His Nation. At the IFP Gotham Independent Film Awards ceremony, David Oyelowo mentioned the film to his list of movies because it was an African-based story directed by a female filmmaker. The British Film Institute (BFI) disclosed that A United Kingdom would open the 60th London Film Festival.

6. Amma Directed “Belle” A Historical Romance

Amma directed the film Belle, a historical romance based on Dido Elizabeth Belle; the film depicts an illegitimate mixed-race daughter of an enslaved African Woman and a Royal Naval captain. The film was the third project to receive investment from Pinewood Studios as part of its Pinewood Film initiative, established to help fund and support British Independent films.

The film received widespread critical acclaim and became one of the highest-grossing independent films of the year 2013 and saw Amma named one of CNN’S Leading Women of 2014 and also named by Variety as one of their 10 Directors to Watch. Also, in 2014 at Miami International Film Festival, she was awarded The Signis Award as director of Belle.

7. Amma was Part of the “Just Say No” Campaign in the 1980s

Amma took part in the “Just Say No” anti-drugs campaign of the 1980s and was one of nine “Grange Hill” children to take it to the Reagan White House. “Just Say No” was an advertising campaign as part of the United States-led war on drugs, aiming to discourage children from engaging in illegal recreational drug use by offering various ways to say “no.” the slogan was created and championed by Nacy Reagan during her husband’s presidency.

8. Amma Professional Associations and Interests

Amma Asante. Photo by Ross-Wikimedia

Amma is a past elected member of the British Academy of Film and Television (BAFTA) Council and a past BAFTA Film committee member. She also served as Governor from 2006 to 2007 at the London Film School and in 2014, she was made an Honorary Associate of the London Film School.

9. Amma Filmography Isn’t Extensive

Amma’s films are not quite many, but the film she has directed is of good quality; this has gained her a large audience and big success in her career. She has directed Where Hands Touch (2018) film inspired by historical events and was distributed worldwide by Sony.

Amma directs the Billion Dollar Spy film adaptation. The film is based on the book by journalist David E. Hoffman and tells the true story of Adolf Tolkachev, who became the pentagon’s most valuable spy during the last years of the cold war.

Additionally, Amma directed episodes of Hulu-MGM’s The Handmaid’s Tale season 3 and the critically acclaimed “Shirley and “Betty” episodes of Cate Blanchett’s first US television series, Mrs. America, for FX-Hulu.

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10. Amma is Married to Soren Pedersen

Amma was previously married to producer and director Charlie Hanson. After their separation, she is married to Soren Pedersen, a former spokesman for European police in The Hague.