As Serious As First Love: Sam Kessie & Film

She’s worn many hats. Set decorator, academician, production assistant and now film director. Her resume is a list of various industry positions and work sectors that are just as diverse as her cultural and intercontinental experiences. Priscilla Afua Kessie, whom we will all know as Sam Kessie , is a British Ghanaian director, writer and story teller whose debut film and senior thesis “Sales Day” demonstrates a delicate balance of art, intellect and passion.

I remember when I first ran into “As Serious as First Love,” it was Haki Madhubuti and my first year of college, prospective psychology major with no clue—about anything.  So, the opportunity to interview an ambitious film director with a psych background was thrilling. Fact: psychology majors love to understand people. Another fact: I inevitably declared a sociology major and we love to believe we understand all they don’t! For Sam Kessie, The transition from the social sciences and corporate America to creating as a career seems to have been inevitable. Interestingly enough, her position seems common in that respect. She transitioned, and she did so successfully.

“I took a few business classes and I didn’t find it fun at all. It was just boring for me[…]The complexities of the mind and attempting to understand an  individual and social behavior as well as the physiological and  sometimes even the neurological processes absolutely fascinated me.” Renowned author Julia Cameron holds the belief that many individuals are natural born story tellers. Somewhat ironically, she holds the belief that psychologists specifically end up in the vocation because of repressed, natural story telling abilities. Somewhere along the line, burgeoning young artists are told its too difficult to be an artist. Its too hard to create, or that they aren’t good enough. The reasons are numerous, but ultimately many just simply don’t do it and allow their untapped passions to remain dormant. “Unfortunately, I am from a culture that too many families or parents do not encourage the arts. My culture encourages the sciences and businesses and so I was on the road to becoming a doctor or engineer.  Many worry that as an artist you will always be in debt… (Somewhat true, hahaha, but that shouldn’t stop you).”

Ultimately, one who is born to create will create, and Kessie did just that.  Kessie confesses that “even though many signs pointed towards my destiny to become an artist from as young as a primary school student, to a senior high school student, I kept pursing a completely different path.” Luckily for us all, she made her way back to creating and her debut film that started out as a senior thesis is a testament to coming in to her role as a griot (think, story teller of culture and tradition) expressing through the medium of film. Kessie’s first work is somewhat of a psychological thriller not only delving into the depths of human behavior, but also unveiling the nature of avarice, greed and ambition.

Although a beautiful process, Sam Kessie admits the fulfillment of her dream and destiny hasn’t been without trials. The struggling artist lifestyle doesn’t appeal to many admittedly. But I always remember what a music industry consultant told me once, “temporary discomfort, long term satisfaction.” The sacrifice one makes for passion is precisely what she exemplifies. In fact, she even quit her job and enrolled in media classes at American Intercontinental University and would later graduate with 3…lets say, it was a very, very impressive GPA—for the sake of modesty.

Me: There is a quote that loosely says, “Leap and the net will appear.” Courageously,  you did that and this allowed you to pursue something you were so  passionate about. How liberating was this experience for you, and were you afraid?

Sam Kessie: I was worried. I was making decent money working a corporate American  job… My dad especially wasn’t exactly thrilled by my move at first. I became pretty broke.”

She can look back on the experience with pride now, but the path hasn’t been so seamless. From economic strains during launch off, to her film being criticized for not being “experimental” enough, Kessie faced pressures that might deter the emerging artist but she managed to prevail. “…when you delve in behavioral psychology. What makes us tick and why we sometimes make the choices we do, even though sometime we know the consequences could be dire. All my experiences as well as other people have helped me become a better filmmaker.”

The future from Kessie is looking bright. Looking back on her difficult, drastic decision to dive into film full force, she seems undeniable grateful she made the plunge. With a feature film in the works, as well as a documentary scheduled to be released in April, needless to say she is on the move, and moving quickly. The Sankofa Adinkra symbol is one that describes the process of looking to the past to move forward or perhaps even to “go back and get it.” When mentioning the famous symbol to her to her, she enthusiastically responded by stating “I think Sankofa describes a lot of who I am[…]I always loved the arts….I tried to run  away from it for years and convince myself that I wanted to do something else. Finally I went back, learned from my past. I am so glad I took the risk and did.”

Demo reel

Trailer for Documentary