The Road Not Taken

Four friends pass by a store to buy things for a fun day at the park. An incident will happen that will change the entire dynamic and mood of the group, bringing up past traumas, misunderstandings & unsolved issues.

  • Sam Boateng
    Director
  • Sam Boateng
    Writer
  • Sam Boateng
    Producer
  • Erol Mintaş
    Producer
    Academy Of Moving People and Images
  • Erina Giuseppe Francesco
    Key Cast
    "Sofi"
    Dear Elijah, Aikuiset, Actors academy Finland
  • Maeve Korpela
    Key Cast
    "Lina"
    Actors academy Finland
  • Kevin Kainulainen
    Key Cast
    "Timo"
    Actors academy Finland
  • Timo Viermaa
    Key Cast
    "Jussi"
    Actors academy Finland
  • Project Type:
    Short, Student
  • Runtime:
    9 minutes 36 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    November 21, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    800 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Finland
  • Country of Filming:
    Finland
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    35mm
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes - Academy of moving people and images
Director Biography - Sam Boateng

Hi, My name is Sam Boateng. I was born and raised in Italy by Ghanaian parents. I am deeply connected to both African and Italian roots. I moved to Finland in 2016 to start a new chapter of my life and to challenge myself in a new way. I have always loved photography/videography but never had the funds to afford a camera until I changed my mindset and started working on achieving my goals. I have two major passions in me: sharing love and happiness through food as a chef and through Pictures and videos as a Photographer/ Videographer. Now I am focusing and working to change the narrative through storytelling as a Cinematographer, writer & Director of Filmmaking /Docufilmmaking. I graduated from the Filmmaking school Academy of moving People and Image (AMPI) with my official first short movie written and directed by me "The Road Not Taken". I have been directing and collaborating with other videographers/filmmakers’ on short movies and music videos since the beginning of 2020. Since the beginning of 2021, I’ve been working with different dancers on building and performing theatrical shows and creating collaborations with theatres like Aleksanderin teatteri, musiikkitalo etc...

My main desire as a filmmaker is to talk about social issues that are not often talked about.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

My film is about interracial relationships (in love life and friendships) and the biases that
sometimes there are in this kind of relationship.
What I am saying is that we need to learn how to understand each other more, and we need to talk more about this kind of issue because it exists no matter how blind we try to be or we are.
A problem in particular that often is not talked about that I brought up, is the fact that miss
understandings in many interracial relationships are the main problem that brings a lot of beautiful stories to an end.
I feel I want to make this movie because of the many experiences like this one that the POC
community have gone through. We need a world where people of different ethnicities talk more to understand each other. We are living in a world where mixed relationships are growing but with it the misunderstandings.
I would like to make people that don’t resonate with this issue think and question themselves.
I would like them to notice and understand how challenging this issue can be and learn that
biases exist in each one of us and that acting like we are perfect human beings doesn’t help
anybody, including ourselves.
What makes this film unique is that it talks about racism, but that’s not where It is focused on, even though racism has caused a lot of troubles in my life, and at a point in my life I thought about not living anymore. I still do not want to focus on that. That was just the
the trigger that brings back an issue that already existed between them.
Even Sofy in the movie, is the one that we are focusing more on, has a bias, her leaving
symbolizes that she has put her friends in a “prejudiced” box where she thinks they can’t ever come out from.
The style that I want to go for is more of a modern drama short movie, with natural colours, light, handheld & tripod, close-ups and dolly shots.
The music choice will mainly be classical music mixed with ambient sounds, to emphasize the moods that the characters are in each specific moment.