Cope

Abebrese is a young man who wakes up in a Therapist's office after attempting to take his own life. He finds himself caught in a conversation with the mysterious Therapist, who seems to know too much about him.

  • Gilbert Carrey
    Writer
    The Slave King, Coffee Shop, Trapped By Myself
  • Gilbert Carrey
    Director
    The Slave King, Coffee Shop, Trapped By Myself
  • Shirley Acquaah-Harrison
    Producer
    The Slave King, Coffee Shop
  • Gilbert Carrey
    Producer
    The Slave King, Coffee Shop, Trapped By Myself
  • Gilbert Mohammed Atta-Boakye
    Producer
  • Ursula Galyuoni Kennedy
    Producer
  • Prince Annan
    Key Cast
    "Abebrese"
  • Ursula Galyuoni Kennedy
    Key Cast
    "The Therapist"
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Experimental, Surreal, Drama
  • Runtime:
    18 minutes 10 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    November 6, 2025
  • Production Budget:
    1,130 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Ghana
  • Country of Filming:
    Ghana
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    RED
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Gilbert Carrey

Gilbert Ramy Carrey is a Ghanaian writer, director, and producer whose storytelling spans film, television, and publishing. His first work, the comic book Adventures in Pencilvania (2016), marked the beginning of his creative journey, followed by the epic feature film The Slave King (2017), which established him as a bold new voice in Ghanaian cinema. He went on to create the television serial Coffee Shop, the short film Trapped By Myself (officially selected for Accra Cinema Week 2023), and his upcoming short, Cope, a socially driven project tackling suicide prevention and mental health awareness.
Carrey is an alumnus of the National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI) and has built a reputation for fusing cultural authenticity with cinematic ambition. At 17, he earned a nomination for the EMY Africa Awards – Discovery of the Year, and he later received the prestigious Netflix Creative Equity Scholarship, which included a hands-on internship with EbonyLife Films in Nigeria, where he developed skills in crafting African-centered stories at scale.
With a growing body of distinctive work and training that bridges local tradition with global standards, Gilbert Ramy Carrey stands out as one of Ghana’s most promising young filmmakers, committed to telling stories that are both powerful and culturally resonant.

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Director Statement

Cope was created from a question I had been asking myself for some time: Why is mental health not taken seriously in Ghana?
Having faced my own mental health battles and seen many around me struggle in silence, I realised it was because of a stigma within the culture.
To combat this, I set out to depict the mental health struggles that many young Ghanaians face in their daily lives to highlight how easily family and friends can miss the signs of their battles. Cope is a minimalist film that tells a story that is very common but rarely confronted in Ghana.
Rather than presenting dramatic extremes, Cope focuses on the ordinary moments where emotional weight accumulates: the pauses, the unspoken tensions, the subtle signals that often go unnoticed even to those battling mental health struggles unknowingly. My aim was to portray distress not as weakness, but as a deeply human experience.
The film is a surrealist take on a very real scenario that would resonate with any Ghanaian young or old. The intention is not to provide easy answers, but to open space for empathy, conversation, and reflection.
If Cope encourages even one viewer to check in on someone, to speak more openly, confront their struggles head on or to seek help without shame, then the film has fulfilled its purpose.