AFRIFF 2025: Nana Obiri-Yeboah’s “The Funeral of Kwadae” is Hole Ridden

Nana Obiri-Yeboah’s The Funeral of Kwadae is one of the feature films from Ghana. Set in the fictional and energetic town of Nipa Hia Mmoa, the film follows the titular Kwadae (Brian Angels), a boutique owner, known for courting and causing troubles. Kwadae’s life is marked with a rising debt profile, failing business and impatient landlord. For his business to keep breathing, Kwadae takes a loan from Atsu (Don Kingsley Yamoah), the town’s gangster and loan shark. Kwadae decides to change the course of his life when a successful burglary sweeps clean his boutique. With his friends, Joe Pee (Solomon Fixon-Owoo Jr.) and Kay Bona (Kobina Amissah-Sam), he decides to fake his death. Ghanaians, like their other African siblings, love funerals. And, in Kwadae’s thinking, the donations given to his corpse will be used to rebuild his crumbling life and business.

What follows is a convoluted and turmoil-filled narrative and plot. The film, jointly written by Obiri-Yeboah and Joewackle J. Kusi’, wants to eagerly critique Ghanaians and Africans’ disinterest in helping the  struggling man until his death. But, its hole-ridden plot makes that critique shallow. Mr. Bonsam (played by David McKenzie), Kwadae’s uncle, withholds financial support towards Kwadae until his staged death. For Mr. Bonsam and Kwadae’s relatives, they care less about Kwadae’s earthly struggles but for his funeral services. To them, funerals are public celebrations. And, in African societies, the grandness or modesty signals a family’s social and economic strength. This is the film’s  most important message. But, to arrive at this point, the script throws redundant events and characters into the film. The character it teases as being important eventually gets sidelined. 

When the film starts, Afi (Adomaa Djeman), a Nurse, had  just rented a room in  Kwadae’s compound. Kwadae, eager to make an impression, courts her. That courting leads to a romantic tour of the community. Moments later, the film wants us to believe Afi and Kwadae have a blooming relationship. Originally, the film teases that Afi has a narrative and plot identity and importance different from that of Kwadae. But, as the film progresses, Afi, like other characters, have a singular importance: pushing forward Kwadae’s staged death forward. 

The writing, rather than slowly dwell on important characters, like Afi, sped towards the finish line. It’s easy to tell that the film’s writers enjoyed writing the script. The film is overstuffed with similes and metaphors that it becomes impossible to distinguish between individual characters. It seems the characters are competing for their ancestry to William Shakespeare and Wole Soyinka. This robs the film and its characters of their distinct voice. 

Africans hold funerals in high regard as a way to honor the dead. Funerals ensure smooth transition to the spirit world and provide a vital social and community gathering. African communities see funeral rites and ceremonies as a crucial rite of passage and not an end. This explains the importance placed on them. But, as The Funeral of Kwadae shows, Kwadae’s uncle and relatives aren’t concerned about the cultural importance of African funerals. What’s primal is the social approval they receive for “celebrating” their dead brother and son. Kwadae’s staged death challenges this African obsession with celebrating and supporting the dead and not the living. But, the film’s inability to better articulate itself in focused characters, events and narrative choices, make it scantily visible.