Shampaign S1-2

Award-winning Ghanaian filmmaker Shirley Frimpong Manso and actress Jocelyn Dumas are a match made in heaven, whether they are working together on the popular Ghanaian film series Adams Apples or on the ground-breaking political drama series Shampaign.

Written and directed by Manso (Potato Potahto), a filmmaker who has set herself apart as a champion for fierce female-led stories, Shampaign follows Nana (Dumas), an ambitious single mother who’s in the race to become the first female president in Ghana. It’s not an easy feat, especially in a field as competitive and as messy as politics where personal lives are turned upside down and women are rarely welcomed with open arms.

Even though her campaign is led by an ambitious dream team, Nana’s journey isn’t without challenges. Like the fact that everyone around her (including herself) is hiding secrets that could ruin her chances for the presidency or that her biggest political rival and the media refuse to see her beyond her femininity – to the point of ignoring her track record as the Gender Minister.

On her role as Nana, Dumas has said in a previous interview, “The show (Shampaign) is driving the idea that anything is possible if you work hard at it. It portrays a lot of strength in women…I had played many roles but I had never played a serious one. I read about politics, watched The Good Wife and paid attention to everything about Alicia Florrick, her mannerisms, body language and movements…I needed to embody the character and make it as believable as I can.”