Young, Gifted and Black. Sahndra Fon Dufe
Sahndra Fon Dufe, Actress, writer, Producer
By Ange Ngu Thomas
The first thing you noitice about her is the eyes; They are captivating, they draw you and you somehow will remain focused. At only 23, Sahndra has achieved what a lot of people are still struggling to achieve in their forties and fifties.
She owns a registered movie company in the US, has written and will star in a movie (Yefon) which she hopes to shoot later in the summer when she succeeds in raising the eye watering (for an African movie) $500.000 budget. She still needs help raising that though. She has a law degree and was for many years named the most creative student in her Cameroonian all girls seconday school Our Lady of Lourdes College, Mankon, Bamenda.
She started writing at a very early age and submitted a poem that was considered good enough to get acknowledged by the Commonwealth secretariat. She is presently writting her second screen play while she is staring in another movie (One Night in Vegas) She speaks four languages fluently.
“I want to be a model for girls in Cameroon and Africa” she syas and she can rightly lay claim to that; she is inspirational. Nothing appears to stand in her way. When she wants anything, she just goes out and does everything humanely possible to get it.
She moved to Los Angeles less than three years ago but already speaks with an impeccable American accent. If you hear her speak, you will think she was born in the United States but Sahndra was born and bred in Cameroon and she says she will never forget her roots.
Yefon, her first film that will be shot in Cameroon, is about the bravery of a young girl who does everything to get an education in a society that frowns on female education. She is sentensed to death when it becomes known that she is learning to read and write.
An American lady and her boyfriend help release her. Sahndra says the film is based on a true story but for obvious reasons, does not tell you where exactly in Africa women are sentensed to death for trying to learn. The film is really about the inspiring example of a girl who defies tradition and wins. The film will also have some well known American actors taking part in it.
Sahndra holds that most girls across Africa especially do not aspire above the limitations of their immediate surroundings . “ Girls need to have a dream and try to achieve that dream” she says echoing the well known “I Have a dream” mantra of civil rights preacher Martin Lurther King.
She dreamt she wanted to be an atress and to achieve that dream, she knew she had to move from Cameroon where the movie industry is still in its infancy. Less than three years after moving to America, she has written and will soon produce a big budget film in hollywood standards. She also now mixes with hollywood greats counting some as close acquistances.
Inspiring Interview of the young actress coming soon.
Brilliant. these are the types of young talents we need from Africa.. Kudos Sahndra