Damn the Man, Save the Rex!
Synopsis
Damn the Man, Save the Rex! follows filmmaker Akosua Adoma Owusu’s ongoing effort to revive Ghana’s historic Rex Cinema, one of its oldest cinema houses. Blending archival material, voiceover, and experimental soundscapes, the short reflects on the legacy of Kwame Nkrumah’s vision for cinema as a cultural tool and reimagines the Rex as a living hub for film, art, and community.
United States, English
Cast & Crew
Director / Writer / Producer: Akosua Adoma Owusu
Producer: Mojolaoluwa Idowu
Featuring: Akosua Adoma Owusu, Nii-Moi Addo
Editor: Dylan Bowman, Jada Wesley
Sound Design & Mix: Kari Rae Seekins
Director Statement
Damn the Man, Save the Rex! is a personal reflection on my long-standing effort to revive the Rex Cinema in Accra, Ghana. The film samples audio from Empire Records, reframing its ethos of rebellion within a Ghanaian struggle to sustain a historic landmark.
The film moves between past and present, honoring the Rex as a site of Ghana’s cinematic heritage while imagining its future as a living gathering place. It asks what it means to protect not only a building, but the shared experience of seeing ourselves onscreen.
As a Ghanaian-American filmmaker working between continents and histories, I return often to questions of memory, cinema, and the spaces that hold us. This film continues that ongoing practice.