Lansana Mansaray, often known as “Barmmy Boy”, is a Sierra Leonean filmmaker and one of the most popular filmmakers in Sierra Leone cinema. Mansaray is best known for the critically acclaimed film, “Survivors”, among the long list of films.

Barmmy Boy said the film “Survivor” is an interwoven story on the role Sierra Leoneans played in the fight against Ebola. He said most of the films that were coming out of Sierra Leone during the Ebola were by foreign filmmakers. His film, made with co-producer, Arthur Pratt, is about the people working on the front lines… an ambulance driver, burial team, nurse, etc. Barmmy said they wanted to tell the Ebola story from a Sierra Leonean point of view.

“When it is being put into short films, people will believe because it is not coming from a big politician, or an expert, or a doctor. It’s coming from the locals themselves who are living in these communities,” says Barmmy

“These films were quickly identified by healthcare professionals in the region as being extremely effective in getting the messages out in a way local communities could relate to”.

“With “Survivors”, we wanted the world to see, and feel what the Ebola outbreak was like from the perspective of Sierra Leoneans,” he said.

The film became the biggest documentary film to come out of West Africa. It was nominated for an Emmy and Peabody Award and was the first Black produced film to be shown at the Shangai Film Festival.

“Survivor” went to nearly all the world’s biggest film festivals where it was also screened at the world’s biggest documentary film festival, which is the IDFA in the Netherlands. The film and producers also toured in the US. Barmmy said “Survivor” was shot in Sierra Leone but most of its post-production was done in the USA and it was a collaboration with the ‘We Yone TV’ in San Francisco.

Lansana Mansaray is a multi talented director of photography, filmmaker, and musician who lives in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Barmmy is a founding member and the production manager of the WeOwn TV/Freetown Media Centre. He is the Producer/Director of photography for Survivors. He has been honoured by the British Council on numerous occasions and has been selected to travel abroad representing the creative youth of Sierra Leone to London, Hull, Copenhagen, Abidjan, and Accra.

Barmmy is no stranger to travel and has been around the world promoting his films at festivals and spreading the word about his home town.

Barmmy Boy furthered that he has broken into the industry in Sierra Leone that many filmmakers have had difficulties breaking into by just doing short commercial filmmaking and a short documentaries. “We did not win too many awards but it adds a lot to our professional standings and create a lot of unending jobs for us.”

Barmmy Boy is working on a new project called “The New Boat”, a film which tells the story of fishermen in Sierra Leone… what they are going through… and also tells about migration in the fishing industry. Barmmy said the film will particularly look at the struggles of a local fisherman and about women whose husbands left for neighboring Guinea. They are supported by a group called ‘Generation Africa based in South Africa.

Barmmy Boy said the film industry is unfortunately disorganized and largely ineffective. He said it is difficult to bring people together and filmmaking is first and foremost a collaborative venture.