Yaba Badoe facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Yaba Badoe
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Badoe at the 2015 Zanzibar International Film Festival
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| Born | 1954 (age 70–71) Tamale, northern Ghana
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| Nationality | Ghanaian-British |
| Alma mater | King's College, Cambridge |
| Occupation | Documentary filmmaker, journalist and author |
| Spouse(s) | Colin Izod |
Yaba Badoe (born 1954) is a talented filmmaker, journalist, and writer from Ghana and Britain. She is known for making documentaries and writing books for both adults and children.
Contents
About Yaba Badoe
Early Life and Education
Yaba Badoe was born in 1954 in Tamale, a city in northern Ghana. She moved to Britain at a young age to go to school. She later studied at King's College, Cambridge, a famous university.
Starting Her Career
After finishing her studies, Yaba Badoe worked for the government in Ghana for a short time. She then started her career in journalism at the BBC, which is a big news organization in Britain. She also worked as a researcher at the University of Ghana.
Yaba Badoe has taught in different countries like Spain and Jamaica. She became a producer and director, making many documentaries for major TV channels in Britain.
Notable Documentaries
Some of her early documentaries include:
- Black and White (1987): This film looked at race and racism in Bristol, England.
- Voluntary Service Overseas (2002): This was a six-part series for ITV, another British TV channel.
A Talented Writer
Besides making films, Yaba Badoe is also a creative writer. Her first novel for adults, True Murder, was published in 2009. This book tells a story about a young African girl who moves from Ghana to a boarding school in England.
She has also written short stories, including "The Rivals," which was part of a collection called African Love Stories (2006). Yaba Badoe has also written three books especially for children!
Award-Winning Films
Yaba Badoe has directed and co-produced several important documentary films.
- The Witches of Gambaga (2010): This film won the Best Documentary award at the Black International Film Festival in 2010. It also received a special prize at FESPACO in 2011, which is a big film festival in Africa.
- The Art of Ama Ata Aidoo (2014): This is her most recent film, which explores the work of a famous Ghanaian writer.
In 2016, Yaba Badoe took part in a special event in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where people shared stories about African and African-Diaspora communities. She also contributed to the book New Daughters of Africa in 2019, which is a collection of writings by African women.
Personal Life
Yaba Badoe lives in Balham, London, with her husband, Colin Izod.
Selected Films
Here are some of the films Yaba Badoe has worked on:
- A Time of Hope (1983)
- Crowning Glory (1986)
- Black and White (1987)
- Supercrips and Rejects (1996)
- Race in the Frame (1996)
- A Commitment to Care – The Capable State (1997)
- Am I My Brother's Keeper? (2002)
- Voluntary Service Overseas (2002)
- One to One (2003)
- Secret World of Voodoo: Africa – Coming Home (2006)
- Honorable Women (2010)
- The Witches of Gambaga (2010)
- The Art of Ama Ata Aidoo (2014)
