Sean Graham
Born
Hans Friedrich Hermann Isay

(1920-06-26)26 June 1920
Berlin, Germany
Died5 October 2015(2015-10-05) (aged 95)
London, England
NationalityGerman
Occupation(s)Director, Producer, Writer
Years active1951–1976

Hans Friedrich Hermann Isay (26 June 1920 – 5 October 2015), popularly known by his stage name Sean Graham, was a German-born Ghanaian filmmaker and former military leader of British Army.[1] In cinema, he is best known for directing the critics acclaimed Ghana films The Boy Kumasenu, Jaguar and Two Weeks in September.[2][3][4][5]

Personal life

Graham was born on 26 June 1920 in Berlin, Germany. He fled with his family to Britain in 1933 and was educated at Peterhouse, Cambridge. During his life at Britain, he studied law at Cambridge university. When the World War II started, his life was at threat, where he quickly changed his name to Sean Graham. Then he worked as an interpreter with British army intelligence, and gradually became lieutenant-colonel.[2]

He died on 5 October 2015 in London at the age of 95.[2]

Career

After the war ended, Graham became a film trainee along with Paul Rotha at Elstree studios. In 1948, he moved to Ghana and contributed to uplift the Ghanaian film industry during a span of ten years. In 1952, he directed his film debut with The Boy Kumasenu, which was nominated for the BAFTA Best Film.[6][7] Then he moved to Tunisia for a brief period and returned to work in film in London.[2] In 1957, he directed and produced a documentary Freedom for Ghana which received critics acclaim. Then in 1967, his film Two Weeks in September was screened in many film festivals worldwide.[8] He lived and worked in Turkey making films for some years before finally returning to London.

In 2015, Government of Ghana conferred a State honor on Graham due to his pioneering work on Ghanaian cinema.[9]

He was also the author of three novels: A Surfeit of Sun (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1964) and Hippo's Coup (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1968), both set in Africa; and The French Odalisque based on the life of Aimée du Buc de Rivéry (Orbach & Chambers, 2009).

Filmography

YearFilmRoleGenreRef.
1952The Boy KumasenuDirector, writer, ProducerFilm
1956Mr. Mensah Builds a HouseDirectorShort film
1957JaguarDirector, writerShort film
1957Freedom for GhanaDirector, producerDocumentary
1963The European Economic CommunityDirector, writerDocumentary short
1967Two Weeks in SeptemberWriterFilm
1974The Zoo GangActorTV series

References

  1. ↑ "Sean Graham". MUBI (in German). Retrieved 9 October 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Sean Graham, writer - obituary". www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
  3. ↑ "BOY KUMASENU: colonialfilm". www.colonialfilm.org.uk. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
  4. ↑ Sandon, Emma (1 September 2013). "Cinema and Highlife in the Gold Coast: The Boy Kumasenu (1952)". Social Dynamics. pp. 496–519. doi:10.1080/02533952.2013.852826. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
  5. ↑ "Remembering some classic Ghanaian movies". Africa Global Radio. 24 August 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
  6. ↑ "Sean Graham". www.bafta.org. 22 January 2016. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
  7. ↑ "'Modernity and Danger:The Boy Kumasenu and the Work of the Gold Coast Film Unit'" (PDF). core.ac.uk. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  8. ↑ Potts, Jim; Giltrow, David; Giltrow, Peggy (1 September 1980). "Film and Film-Training in Africa: A Pioneer Talks 1) Sean Graham 2) Sam Aryeetey". Educational broadcasting international. pp. 142–151. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
  9. ↑ "Government of Ghana confers State honour on Sean Graham". GhanaWeb. 5 October 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.