… Shirley Frimpong-Manso’s Sparrow Studios helms first original series
ENO is coming. African streaming service Showmax has announced its first-ever original title in Ghana, ENO, which will premiere on Showmax in March 2022.
Set in Accra, the 13-part drama series follows Abena Baafi, a single mother who is determined to meddle in her three daughters’ lives by steering them towards the path of rich suitors. However, her ‘girls’ have a mind of their own and soon a mother’s dream becomes a daughter’s nightmare.
ENO stars Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice (AMVCAs) winner Gloria Osei-Sarfo (The Perfect Picture – Ten Years Later) as Abena, with Miss Malaika 2018 Mariam Owusu-Poku, Ghana Movies Awards nominee Esi Hammond (Rumours) and Emelia Asiedu as her three daughters.
Award-winning actor John Dumelo (The Perfect Picture, A Northern Affair), Godwin Namboh (Dede, 21 Days Inside), Peter Ritchie (Azali, Terminus), Brian Angels (Inspector Bediako, The Burial of Kojo), Michael Katahena (Sankofa), Kabutey Ocansey, and Kelvin Sarpong Jr also feature in supporting roles.
ENO is helmed by award-winning filmmakers Shirley Frimpong-Manso and Ken Attoh as director and producer respectively. Under their company Sparrow Studios, the couple and production partners are behind some of the biggest titles in Ghana, including the popular Ghanaian telenovela Dede, which won Shirley an award for Best Director at the 2021 Ghana Movie Awards; the award-winning romantic drama The Perfect Picture and its sequel The Perfect Picture: Ten Years Later; and the hit romcom Potato Potahto, which premiered at Cannes Film Festival in 2017.
From her body of work, Shirley has always been passionate about stories that put women at the centre, and ENO ticks all the boxes.
“I was immediately drawn to ENO because of its female-driven narrative. In spite of the fact that the main character, Abena Baafi, is described as a woman who is cunning and even greedy, I love her zeal to succeed against all the odds,” Shirley says. “The fact that she is determined to see her daughters make better choices than she has, shows me a mother’s honest attempt to right her past wrongs through the children she so dearly loves, even if she doesn’t get it right every single time.”
Shirley describes ENO as a story that “is not ordinary” and one that will “challenge your beliefs and keep you glued from the very first scene to the last.”
Her sentiments are shared by her producer, Ken, who believes that ENO is fitting for a first Ghanaian Showmax Original and will be loved by viewers as it is a “visually entertaining, drama-filled and completely relatable African story with Ghanaian nuances.”
“It highlights some of the pressures we all experienced at one point growing up and even as adults, either from our parents or family members,” says Ken.
According to Shirley, ENO will also introduce Ghanaian viewers to a lineup of powerful actors, some of whom are relatively new to our screens. As the first Showmax Original in Ghana, working on ENO is both exciting and challenging, Shirley admits, and its success will open doors to so many filmmakers in Ghana. “The success of this series will set the stage for much more original Ghanaian-produced content on Showmax. I am convinced this will happen and help accelerate the growth of the Ghanaian film and TV industry,” Shirley says.
ENO joins other Showmax Originals across Africa, including Kenya’s hit police procedural Crime and Justice and the recently launched drama series Single Kiasi; Nigeria’s reality series I Am Laycon and the upcoming The Real Housewives of Lagos; and South Africa’s record-breaking telenovela The Wife and reality series The Real Housewives of Durban.
ENO will premiere on Showmax in March 2022.
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