By Fatoumata Konteh
One of the youngest movie directors in the Gambia is Muhammed Drammeh, 24, known as Ali Colon. He is a high school graduate from Mahad Senior School and currently studying Management and Policy Analysis at MDI.
Drammeh lives in Brikama Kabafita with the ambition of moving The Gambian movie industry to a higher height by producing standard and quality movies like any other film industry in developed countries.
He is passionate about writing scripts and directing movies with his group called Save Empire, where he also served as a Co-founder of the group where he is the secretary general.
Muhammed began his journey in the industry in 2018 by writing scripts of over ten stories but only a few of them were transformed into movies as series these include Love and Jealousy, Stingy Man from UK, Kulubaliyaa, and Fadinyaa.
“I began my acting career in 2019. The first movie was featured in “BAYOO” (The Orphan) a series show. Which narrated a sorrowful story about a girl who has been maltreated by his stepmother after the death of his mother and the struggles she went through. Then I started pursuing my dream as an actor/comedian.” He said
Ali Colon further explained the effects of Covid-19 on his career and the entire team at large.
“Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, we couldn’t move into movie producing. So we decided to take a step with short skits to grab the attention of the public using both English and national languages,” he said,
Notwithstanding, “It has not been easy for me because working with people is not an easy task. Others see acting as fun not something serious to rely on in this country which makes filming a complete series more difficult to attain. It has also been an obstacle for me and the team,” he added.
Nevertheless, despite some obstacles, he is gradually growing on his YouTube channel with over 11,000 subscribers.
