{"id":151210,"date":"2015-09-13T13:18:09","date_gmt":"2015-09-13T13:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=151210"},"modified":"2015-09-13T16:48:58","modified_gmt":"2015-09-13T16:48:58","slug":"ghanaian-street-vendor-wins-intl-movie-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/09\/ghanaian-street-vendor-wins-intl-movie-award\/","title":{"rendered":"14 -year-old Ghanaian street vendor wins intl. movie award"},"content":{"rendered":"

A 14-year old Ghanaian street vendor, Attah Abraham has won the Marcello Mastroianni\u2019s Best Young Actor Award at the 2015 Venice Film Festival.<\/p>\n

He won the award for his lead performance in a movie alongside Idris Elba.<\/p>\n

Attah Abraham who is said to be without any acting background was picked from the streets of Ghana during the shooting of Netflix\u2019s soon to be released movie \u201cBeasts of No Nation.”<\/p>\n

\"Abraham-Attah-in-Beasts-of-no-nations\"<\/a><\/p>\n

According to the Director of the movie, Cary Fukunaga, Atta Abraham was randomly selected on the streets.<\/p>\n

Cary Fukunaga according to the Business Insider said: \u201cthe lead in \u2018Beasts of No Nation\u2019 was essentially a street vendor before we shot the film. [He had] zero film experience, little education\u2026but he became a somewhat professional actor, which was astounding to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fukunaga added that, \u201chis unlikely star\u2019s name is Abraham Attah, and he is a 14-year-old who plays an 11-year-old child soldier in the film. Abraham\u2019s character joins a militant group from an unnamed West African country that is led by a brutal warlord, played by Idris Elba (\u201cLuther\u201d).\u201d<\/p>\n

The director explained that about 30 of the kids were also selected \u201cand we did this theater workshop and tried scenes that were in the script, and we would improvise. The kids are fast learners, they quickly understood that the better they did the longer they stayed [ as potential casts].\u201d<\/p>\n

He said Abraham performed extremely well.<\/p>\n

\"Attah-Abraham1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a difficult one long take that he had to perform; probably the most intense thing I ever asked him to do in the film. He had six or seven kids around him performing [in the scene], and I watched him become a leader among these kids and make sure they stayed in focus and not f\u2014 up the shot so they didn\u2019t have to do it over again. I gave almost no direction to those kids. Abraham was driving that scene.\u201d<\/p>\n

The director stated that he will not adopt Abraham but will take responsibility for his\u00a0education back in Ghana.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Abraham, he\u2019s only 14 so we had to get him up to speed in school, so right now we put him into boarding school back in Ghana so he can get up to normal 14 year old academics. By nature of us crossing into these people\u2019s lives you have some responsibility there to make their lives better, but at the same time you\u2019re not adopting a child, by any means,\u201d Cary Fukunaga added.<\/p>\n