Shifting Sands

Producer: Louise Akanlu

According to the New York Times (December 27, 2007 issue), about 300 Catholic Priests arrive from other countries to work in the United States annually. Originally from Nigeria in West Africa, Reverend Father Paschal Onunwa has been serving the Catholic community of St. Isaac Jorgues, in Valley Forge Pennsylvania, for the past eleven years. Shifting Sands is a five-minute excerpt from a documentary about Father Paschal’s work, his experiences and some of the values that he brings to the catholic community of St. Isaac Jorgues. It also highlights the views of some of the members of the parish on having an African priest in their community.

Louise Akanlu is a filmmaker and a theatre for development facilitator from Ghana. She received her MFA degree in Film and Media Arts from Temple University. Her work is advocacy based and generally explores developmental issues that impact the lives of people in deprived communities. Some of her works include: more than twenty episodes of the Technology for Livelihood, a weekly television documentary series for the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Ghana, eighteen episodes of Frytol Women’s Digest, a weekly television magazine program that explored the culinary cultures of Ghanaian and international communities, as well as highlight issues that affected the well-being of women and children in Ghana. She also produced Sustainable Rural Electrification for the Renewable Energy Resources Project funded by the United Nations Development Programme in conjunction with the World Bank’s Global Environment Facility program. In addition, Louise has substantial experience working with grassroots and rural communities, sometimes using theatre for development to initiate and facilitate dialogue to raise their awareness on issues such as child trafficking and, inter alia, HIV/AIDS. Louise is currently putting finishing touches to a 30-minutes version of her film Shifting Sands.