Living her childhood dream on screen: Jemilla Suleman yearns for more
At a younger age, Miss Jemilla Suleman figured out what she wanted to do with her life when she became an adult. She wanted to be a writer and also be on television.
Through fate, hard work, perseverance and determination, she has fulfilled her dream and is living her passion. Right after her national service with a real estate firm in Accra, she began her screenwriting career.
Advertisement
In an interview with the Mirror last Friday in Accra, Ms Suleman, a graduate of the University of Cape Coast, said she was excited her childhood dream had materialised.
“My mum told me while growing up, I was watching the news on TV one evening and said to her: ‘This is what I want to do in future.’ My earliest memory of me writing dates back to my days in primary school when I was in class three.
I used to write short stories for my classmates and they would read it and bring it back to me. So when I got the chance to pursue a career in screenwriting professionally two years ago, I put in my all because writing is my core passion; it got me into film and television,” she added.
Describing herself as fearless, bold and audacious, the screenwriter, actress and TV host who is in her early 30s said writing was a difficult task, and that she was happy her hard work was being appreciated.
In 2021, her movie, Chronicles, was nominated for the best writing adapted or original screenplay in the Ghana Movie Awards.
“It feels good to be accepted and recognised in the movie industry. Whenever producers see my script, they are excited. As a writer, you need resilience to survive.
One person may read your story and not like it but another may totally fall in love with it. You need to also research and be open-minded. I am also grateful to Venus Films. I have done most of my writings with them and they have been very helpful in my career,” she said. She observed that working in a male-dominated industry was quite challenging.
Screenwriting, acting and TV presenting
Ms Suleman said she began acting while she was an undergraduate student at the University of Cape Coast.
“When I was in second year, I approached a renowned movie director, Mr Frank Rajah of Venus Films, about writing a script for a movie. Fortunately, he asked me to join him on set and when I got there, Mr Roger Quartey, an actor and production manager, was also around.
Mr Quartey told me I was beautiful. “I think you should be acting instead,” and asked that they give me a costume.
“So I acted as a journalist in the movie The Beast, and that was how I began acting and screenwriting simultaneously,” Ms Suleman said.
The actress has featured in some local productions, including Peep, Dede and Twisted Tips.
For television, Ms Suleman started as a guest on a television show on Viasat 1. She added that she performed incredibly well, the feedback was great and that was how she got a television job.
She has co-hosted shows such as the rendezvous on Atinka Television, the Arena Show on Kwese TV and the Celebrity Fan Show on GH-One TV.
Journey so far
According to Ms Suleman, her journey so far had been very challenging yet satisfying, rewarding and fulfilling.
“Movie producers and directors I have met have been supportive. Sometimes you get people come up to you and say, ‘I watched your film Faith Beyond Fate. It renewed my faith when I thought all hope was lost.’ It was rewarding to know that I was giving people hope.
“I remember one lady approached me and said ‘I watched your movie. I couldn’t get pregnant but it inspired me and I eventually got pregnant’,” she said.
Ms Suleman believes if more cinemas are built across the country, film producers will make more returns on their investments and that will trickle down to the cast and crew because they will also be paid well.
The screenwriter stressed the need for the arts, particularly film, to be more recognised as a tool for cultural change and propagation of societal norms and values.
Future plans
Ms Suleman says writing will always remain her core passion. She looks forward to pursuing some professional courses to fine-tune her writing skills.
“I want to do a course in screenplay and explore other forms of writing, like journalism writing for newspapers. I am hoping to get some international writing gigs too. I also want to learn directing; if I am directing my own movies it will be much easier because I will go with the same mindset I had when writing the script, and that will help. I can get the stories out the way I want them,” she explained.
Family background
Ms Suleman is the first child of two children born to Mr A.B. Suleman and Ms Emma Ameka. She attended the Labone Senior High School in Accra and holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Cape Coast. The television presenter is a Christian and hails from Mepe in the Volta Region.
