Hotly-tipped filmmaker Ebeneza Blanche to release new short film ‘Mathlete’

Rising director Ebeneza Blanche has announced plans to unveil his new short film ‘Mathlete’, which takes an in-depth look at the unique life of teenagers at a boarding school in Ghana.

The award winning multidisciplinary filmmaker, who is represented by SMUGGLER, has created a semi-autobiographical effort that highlights some of the very real personal hurdles he had to overcome himself when he was sent to boarding school in Ghana despite having grown-up predominantly in the west.

“Being a troublesome teenager raised partly in the western world, my mother always said to me ‘Keep on and I’ll send you off to Ghana as punishment’,” he said.

“Fast forward and I find myself in Ghana attending boarding school. My experience there was immensely disciplinary and I found it hard to fit in. Despite my family being from Ghana, the surroundings, language and culture were very different from what I was used to. This project was an opportunity for me to shine a light on my experience in the school system in Ghana.”

The anticipated short film will be released globally later this month and comes after the director achieved huge acclaim last year for one of 2022’s most acclaimed standout music videos; Point and Kill by Little Simz ft. Obongjayar.

Written and directed by Blanche, Point and Kill swept up a total of 13 awards including: Best New Director and Best Styling in a Music Video at the UKMVA’s and the Gold Screen Award at Cannes. The video was also nominated for Video of the Year at the GRM Daily Awards and included in the official selection at Tribeca Film Festival – the first time a music video has been chosen in the shorts category.

To date, Ebeneza has worked with an impressive array of other talent, including the likes of Skepta, Wizkid, Joy Crookes and high-end fashion brands such as Chanel, Gucci and Nike.