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Amma Asante Wiki, Age, Biography, Height, Husband, Family, Images, And More

Amma Asante was born in London to Ghanaian parents on September 13, 1969. She is a British filmmaker, screenwriter, former actress, and chancellor of Norwich University of the Arts. When she landed her first job in BBC's Grange Hill, she developed a love for the film industry. Brothers and Sisters, a 1998 BBC Two drama series starring David Oyelowo, was written and produced by Asante. Model Naomi Campbell, whom she first met when they were seven years old, was her childhood buddy.

Early life

Amma Asante was born in Lambeth, London, to Ghanaian parents. Her mother was a businesswoman who ran her own African grocery store and cosmetics store, while her accountant father had the necessary credentials to work in the UK. Asante received her dance and acting training at the Barbara Speake Stage School in Acton. She was one of nine Grange Hill youngsters that delivered the "Just Say No" anti-drug campaign to the Reagan White House in the 1980s. In addition to receiving credits in other British television shows including Desmond's (Channel 4) and Birds of a Feather (BBC 1), she spent a year as a presenter on the Children's Channel.

Previously, Charlie Hanson, a producer, was Asante's husband. Sren Pedersen, a former spokesperson for European police in The Hague, is now her husband.

Career as a writer and director

Asante's career began when she enrolled in a performing arts college and was given the opportunity to write her first sitcom screenplay. She later started acting as a child and made her first TV appearances in Grange Hill and Desmond's. Asante quit acting in her late teens and pursued a career in screenwriting with a development agreement with Chrysalis. She established Tantrum Films, a production company, and used it to write and produce two seasons of the BBC Two drama Brothers and Sisters in 1998.

A Mode of Living

A Way of Life, a 2004 feature film, served as Asante's directorial debut under Tantrum Films. It was created, funded by the UK Film Council, and produced by Charlie Hanson, a Golden Globe and BAFTA Award winner, Patrick Cassavetti, and Peter Edwards. In her debut movie, A Way of Life, Stephanie James played the role of a single mother. It describes the truth as told by a woman who recalls her mother's suicide and the existence of foster care. Her brother Gavin, played by Nathan Jones, who was also placed in foster care, is also introduced. Leigh Anne (Stephanie James), who is only 17 years old, struggles to make ends meet, especially in light of the costly medical bills her daughter Eli Williams acquired. Their neighbour Hassan Osman (played by Oliver Haden), who had been beaten after being accused of reporting Leigh Anne to social services for child negligence, also raises the issue of cultural tension in the story. The movie has been called "a harrowing drama in social realist mode" and "one of the most warmly received UK titles in the London Film Festival in the autumn." The Times stated on January 17, 2005, "She is one of the most exciting prospects in British cinema to emerge in the past 12 months."

The first-ever Alfred Dunhill UK Film Talent Award was given to Asante by the London Film Festival in November 2004. Asante received The Times' Breakthrough Artist of the Year award in February 2005 and was a finalist for Best Newcomer at the Evening Standard and London Film Critics award ceremonies. Asante received the Carl Foreman Award for Special Achievement by a British Writer, Director, or Producer in Their First Feature Film that same month at the BAFTA Film Awards, which she has since credited as a pivotal moment in her professional development. A Way of Life won the FIPRESCI award (International Federation of Film Critics prize) for Best Feature Film at the 2005 Miami International Film Festival as well as Best Dramatic Feature in World Cinema. In April 2005, the Wales Chapter of BAFTA presented A Way of Life with four of its highest honours, including Best Director and Best Film. The San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain and the Mar del Plata Film Festival in Argentina both gave Asante prizes for this movie.

Both the US and the UK have seen film projects created by Belle Asante. 2013's Belle, her second major motion picture, is a historical love story. The fictional mixed-race daughter of an African woman held in slavery and a Royal Navy captain is based on Dido Elizabeth Belle. In late 18th-century London, he gave the child into the custody of his uncle and Belle's great-uncle, Lord Mansfield, and his wife. Dido was reared by a white aristocratic family in this movie and had a variety of academic abilities. She discusses contemporary social and structural concerns including gender roles and abolitionism using examples from her own life. According to critics, Dido's part in the movie represents "a way that is typically denied to historical black women."

The movie stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw as the titular Dido Elizabeth Belle, Tom Wilkinson as Lord Mansfield, Emily Watson as his wife, Miranda Richardson, Sarah Gadon, Tom Felton, and Sam Reid as other notable characters. In order to assist fund and encourage British indie films, Pinewood Studios launched the Pinewood Films initiative, which included an investment in Belle as the third project. The movie was filmed on location at Oxford, London, and the Isle of Man. It was made available by Fox Searchlight Pictures. As part of the UN centennial activities on slavery and the transatlantic slave trade, a special screening of the movie was held at the UN headquarters in New York on April 2, 2014. The screening at the UN headquarters was attended by Asante and the star, Gugu Mbatha-Raw. The same week, Asante was recognised by BAFTA as a "Brit to Watch" in New York and Los Angeles, where special screenings of Belle were held to acknowledge her contributions. Asante received The Signis Award at the 2014 Miami International Film Festival for directing Belle.

One From The UK

Asante was set to helm the thriller Unforgettable for Warner Bros. in January 2014, but she eventually dropped out and announced in March 2015 that she would be helming the period drama A United Kingdom, which is based on the interracial romance between Seretse Khama and Ruth Williams. David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike play the key characters in the real-life narrative, who marry and decide to travel back to the UK despite British opposition to their love as Bechuanaland approaches independence in the 2016 film A United Kingdom, which Asante directed. The United Kingdom is based on the 2006 history book Colour Bar: The Triumph of Seretse Khama and His Nation by Susan Williams. You could tell there were roughly 250 movie moments in this biography of this remarkable marriage, so Brunson Green describes the filming process by saying, "We kind of culled through all those moments and tried to figure out a storyline." Oyelowo mentioned adding A United Kingdom to his list of films at the IFP Gotham Independent Film Awards presentation since it was an African-based drama with a female director. The 60th London Film Festival will open with A United Kingdom, the British Film Institute (BFI) announced in June 2016.

Recent Initiatives

Asante is a contributor to Margaret Busby's 2019 anthology New Daughters of Africa.

The third installment of The Handmaid's Tale on the Hulu streaming service, "Useful," was directed by Asante. The series is based on the same-titled 1985 book by Canadian author Margaret Atwood. The episode premiered on June 5th, 2019. Asante was named in the Top 100 of the most powerful persons of African/African-Caribbean descent in the UK in the 2020 and 2021 Powerlist.

The Billion Dollar Spy, a Cold War thriller starring Mads Mikkelsen, to be directed by Asante.

In the 2017 Birthday Honours, Asante was named a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to cinema.

Asante made history in 2018 when actress Dona Croll presented her with the honorary award for outstanding achievement to film and television at the British Urban Film Festival.

Relationships And Pursuits Of A Career

Asante has served on the BAFTA Film Committee and as an elected member of the BAFTA Council in the past. She served as a Governor of the London Film School from 2006 to 2007 before being named an Honorary Associate in 2014.

She visited the nation's capital for a drug-abuse campaign before meeting with Nancy Reagan, a former first lady.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role
2004	A Way of Life	Director and screenwriter
2013	Belle	Director
2016	A United Kingdom	Director
2018	Where Hands Touch	Director and screenwriter

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2019	The Handmaid's Tale	Director	2 episodes
2020	Mrs. America	Director	2 episodes

Quick bio

Occupation	Screenwriter,film director,actress
Age	54 years old
Zodiac Sign	Virgo
Born	13 September 1969
Birthplace	Lambeth, London
Nationality	London