Watch the fifth episode of Talking Archives 2, our online interview series, produced by A/CA researchers, Monika Kin Gagnon and Elina Lex, featuring conversations with filmmakers, archivists, and researchers who presented at the 2024 Global Audiovisual Archiving Conference in Toronto in July 2024.

This episode features Obarima Kofi Ofosu-Yeboah in conversation with Monika. Obarima Kofi is a Ghanaian-born artist and filmmaker whose work within moving image practice centers memory and objects. His work has been shown at the French Academy in Rome – Villa Medici, The German Film Museum (Frankfurt), Locarno Film Festival (Switzerland), The Eye Film Museum (Amsterdam), Toronto International Film Festival, Archive/Counter Archive (Toronto), and SXSW to mention a few. The work Amansi Tiafi (Public Toilet Africa) (2021) is an extension of the antidisciplinary approach that has come to mark his oeuvre.

In this episode, Obarima Kofi discusses his film Amansi Tiafi (Public Toilet Africa), filmmaking in Ghana and Africa more generally, as well as cultural heritage and archives in complex relation to support and funding from European and North American cultural institutions. He concludes by advocating for the importance of knowledge transfers to younger generations of artists and archivists and their inclusion in these discussions and planning.

This interview was originally recorded on July 13, 2024 during the Global Audiovisual Archiving Conference at the TIFF Lightbox, Toronto. As we spoke in a public space at the Lightbox, there are ambient voices that we hope will not detract from this fascinating interview.

Archive/Counter-Archive is dedicated to activating and remediating audiovisual archives created by Indigenous Peoples (First Nations, Métis, Inuit), the Black community and People of Colour, womxn, LGBT2Q+ and immigrant communities. Political, resistant, and community-based, counter-archives disrupt conventional narratives and enrich our histories.

Video Editor: Elina Lex

Production assistance from JP Marchand (Cinemobilia) and Benjamin Dyment

Please consult the following for further information on Kofi’s work: 

Director’s statement: https://mubi.com/en/notebook/posts/kofi-ofosu-yeboah-introduces-his-film-public-toilet-africa

Interview at Locarno Film Festival (2021): https://www.filmexplorer.ch/detail/public-toilet-africa-kofi-ofosu-yeboah/

Question period at Africa Alive 2003: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWFB008kKJk