Freetown | 17th October 2023 | Vertex Media
By Ibrahim Sorious Samura
Leading indigenous storytellers and filmmakers from across the world have gathered in the United States of America and Canada at the Reciprocity Project Season 2 gathering organised by Nia Tero Foundation in the U.S and the imagineNATIVE + Media Arts Film in Canada. These events draw participants from across the world to meeting and networking with colleague indigenous storytellers.
Lansana Mansaray, better known as Barmmy Boy, is one of only two filmmakers/storytellers from Africa who participated in the US gathering. The two-day U.S. gathering event took place in the Akwesasne, Mohawk Nation region in New York State, USA.
Participants involved in various activities, from meeting, networking, exploring, learning, film screening, and presentations. After the two days gathering in the United States, the rest of the team proceeded to the Canada gathering, while Barmmy headed back home.
Through a project supported by Nia Tero Foundation, Barmmy Boy created a documentary film ‘MA ŊAYE KA MASAALA A SE KA WƆMƐTI‘ (From God To Man), which is believed to be the first-ever documentary film about the Limba people of Sierra Leone.
In this documentary film, Barmmy Boy takes viewers on a trip as he traces his ancestral lineage to the northern part of Sierra Leone. As a descendant of the Limba clan, Barmmy tries to integrate with the Limba community in his father homeland – learning the Limba language, culture, and traditions.
From stories told by the Limba Chief, Barmmy discovers how the Limba people rely on nature and the natural resources provided for them by ‘Kanu Masaala‘ (God) for their livelihoods and survival, thus coming into play the notion of ‘From God To Man’ (Ma Ŋaye Ka Masaala A Se Ka Wɔmɛti). The film also shows environmental challenges for the indigenous people and how timber logging and indiscriminate cutting of forest trees have posed a serious threat to their heritage, their traditions, and their very means of existence.
Barmmy Boy is a director of photography, musical artist, Emmy and Peabody award nominated filmmaker from Sierra Leone, who is among the best filmmakers/storytellers in Africa —
His works range from ‘This City Belongs To Us‘ to his 2018 Emmy nominated film ‘Survivors‘ (on the ebola outbreak) to his environmental film titled ‘The New Boats‘.
Barmmy has used his arts of filmmaking to share beautiful and amazing stories about his home country, Sierra Leone. He has been to several countries across the world to rebrand and put Sierra Leone on the spotlight at the global stage.
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