Jamaican screen stories confront enslavement as Busan builds momentum

· Politics · Jamaica · Ghana

Jamaican creatives are confronting the island's history of enslavement with taboo-busting stories on screen, with observers describing the work — such as Sky's series Possession, in which a woman opens a 300-year-old box unleashing a violent spirit — as a form of "cultural reparation." In Ghana, artist Ibrahim Mahama has built three cultural hubs in the north, exporting his country's artistic future after representing it at the Venice Biennale. The Busan International Film Festival is building momentum as an "A-list" event, with Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi and Malaysian actor Michelle Yeoh among the honorees.

Why it matters：These cultural developments show how film and art are being used to reckon with colonial history and to build new regional creative economies.

Key points

  • Jamaican works including Sky's Possession confront the island's enslavement history.
  • Ghana's Ibrahim Mahama has built three cultural hubs in the north.
  • Busan film festival is gaining momentum as an 'A-list' event.

Sources (original reporting)

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