Kwabena Gyansah’s story of a teenage girl’s escape from an arranged marriage to a 70-year-old farmer happened to be Ghana’s first ever Oscar submission. Azali, a 2018 film recently made history as the first Ghanaian work to be submitted for Oscars consideration in the 2020 international feature film category, but it was not selected. However in 2019, Azali picked 18 nominations at the Golden Movie Awards Africa (GMAA) and won the best feature film at the 2018 edition of African International Film Festival (AFRIFF) in Lagos, Nigeria.
The film is led by a primarily Ghanian cast, including Akofa Edjeani, Adjetey Anang, Mohammed Halfiz, Ama K. Abebrese, Peter Ritchie, Emmanuel Nii Adom Quaye and Asana Alhassan. Netflix has acquired Azali and it is set to be available for streaming from February 7, 2020.
