It’s not just award-winning institutional journalism that Pensions & Investments reporters are known for: On Sept. 22, Christopher Marchant, London-based senior reporter, won an award for screenwriting at the annual Black Star International Film Festival.
The Accra, Ghana-based festival aims to promote and celebrate works by filmmakers from Africa, and to showcase African films on an international stage.
Marchant, co-writer of "The Letter" — a short film that he adapted from a novel by Gambian author Baaba Sillah — along with the film’s director and others who worked on the project, was the recipient of the Africa Rising Award.
Directed by James Skinner, with whom Marchant has worked on other films, "The Letter" is set in 1945 and tells the story of a Gambian woman who receives a letter carrying news about her fiancé, who is fighting in the war. The letter is written in English and no one in her community can read it, forcing the young woman to trek across the country in search of a translation.
“It was an absolutely phenomenal feeling picking up a trophy at the festival, a reflection of all the immensely hard work the entire cast and crew put in to making this story come to life,” Marchant said.
The chance of winning an award was so far from Marchant's mind, he was actually at the bar at the festival when his win was announced, he added.
"The Letter" was also screened in Brighton, England, and at the Tallahassee Film Festival in early September.
