Ampe: Leap into the Sky, Black Girl

Our decision to make this film came out of the realization that ampe is slowly disappearing from the Ghanaian-American cultural landscape; and it’s now rare to see Ghanaian girls in Columbus, Ohio engaging in the game, even though Columbus is home to over 10,000 Ghanaian immigrants and stands as a sister city to Accra, Ghana. With each new generation of immigrants, there’s a loss of history and personal connection. Ampe: Leap into the Sky, Black Girl is our way of reconciling and preserving the cultural memory of Ghanaian traditions. By documenting the experiences of young Ghanaian women in Columbus, and Accra, we want to understand the history of ampe as a coming-of-age ritual across the African diaspora, how it informs the way Ghanaian women view themselves, each other, and the world around them.