African FILM FESTIVAL New Zealand

Synopsis

Against the picturesque Ghanaian backdrop, Children of the Mountain is an honest exploration of a mother’s will in the face of much adversity. When her baby is born with a cleft lip, cerebral palsy, and Down syndrome, Essuman is led to believe that she has a ‘dirty womb.’ Her promising future as a wife and mother is shattered as her lover disowns her and the community eyes her with suspicion. In a Ghana of old wives’ tales and superstition, such deformities in the child are surely the work of the devil. As Essuman searches for a cure to her son’s illness, she encounters futility at the hospitals and dubious religious leaders and medicine men. In these dire times, she oscillates between having the utmost devotion to her son and controversial attempts at self-preservation. However, in the rural mountains of Ghana—where the souls of children are said to wait—their future may contain hope. Priscilla Anany’s debut feature is a thoughtful and visually-luscious film and a story of the human spirit.