When Kwame Asantewaa first visited the gold-mining communities of the Ashanti region in 2021, he expected to find stories of hardship. What he found instead was something far more complex: communities that were simultaneously vulnerable and resilient, grieving and joyful, under threat and fiercely alive.
"I came in with all my preconceptions," Asantewaa told us. "I left with a completely different understanding of what strength and community mean in the Ghanaian context. The film became about dismantling my own assumptions as much as it was about documenting theirs."
Two Years in the Making
The production of Roots of Gold took over two years, with Asantewaa and his small crew living alongside the communities they were filming. This level of immersion is evident in every frame of the finished documentary, which captures an intimacy and trust that would be impossible to manufacture.
"Trust is not given. It is earned. And it takes time," the director explains. "We were not there to extract a story and leave. We were there to become part of something, however briefly. That is the only ethical way to make documentary cinema."
The Future of African Documentary
Asantewaa is currently in pre-production on his next project, a feature-length documentary examining the lives of women entrepreneurs across four West African cities. It is, he says, the most ambitious thing he has attempted yet.
"I am always chasing the story that scares me a little. That fear means I am doing something that matters."
Roots of Gold is available for licensing and screening through DAV Media. Contact us at info@dreamsarevalidmedia.com for enquiries.