*According to Nigeria’s EbonyLife TV network, “Beasts of No Nation” star Abraham Attah is moving to the USA (from Ghana), where he’ll attend school thanks to a scholarship from Netflix – the streaming service released the film that stars Idris Elba as a fierce warlord who trains a young orphan (Attah) to join his group of guerrilla soldiers. Attah has received 13 award nominations for his performance in the movie.
After winning the Best Male Lead at the Independent Spirit Award some weeks ago, industry players suggested the budding star move to the U.S. where it is believed he can grow his career. He has earned five awards of his performance in the film, including the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor at Venice Film Festival 2015, and ‘Rising Star Award’ at the Black Film Critics Circle (BFCC).
Speaking on his experience at the Spirit Award, the 14-year-old said: “It was a bit scary but I managed myself someway somehow.”
He has also told media that, “I’m not going to do any local movie, I will stay with Hollywood, I think it’s more fun.”
“Abraham is relocating to the States. He is going to school over there and this initiative is by Netflix. Netflix has sponsored everything, Abraham now belongs to them,” his manager said in an interview.
He stated that he left Ghollywood because local movies do not pay much and producers are disrespected by actors, which make the local industry unattractive to him.
Last year, Attah filmed a short film titled “Out of the Village,” which was directed by Jonathan Stein, and counts “X-Men” director Bryan Singer as one of its producers, per Shadow and Act. The 16-minute film was shot in Ghana and raised over $20,000 via a Kickstarter campaign last year. The film is set in an “unnamed West African village,” and follows a brother and his sister during the Ebola outbreak. The project is currently touring the international film festival circuit.
Below, watch the EbonyLife TV news report on Attah’s move to the USA (skip to the 1:35 mark).