Shardiah Ssagala, Kayode Akinyemi to star in 55Media Drama ‘The Disappearance of Raheem Bankole’

Shardiah Ssagala and Kayode Akinyemi have been tapped to star in the new 55Media Drama The Disappearance of Raheem Bankole. Ssagala and Akinyemi will play formerly married London couple, Inaya Bankole and Abdul Bankole respectively. In the new 55Media drama, Ssagala and Akinyemi play a pair in the midst of grieving the loss of their ten-year old son, Raheem after his disappearance for two weeks. The two-person drama, will see Ssagala and Akinyemi break down and confront the traumas of their past relationship as they both struggle to cope with the loss of their only child.

The former couple who met as teenagers, have been separated for six years with Raheem their son primarily living with his mother [Ssagala]. On the day of his disappearance it is discovered that he has wandered off to visit his father [Akinyemi] after an explosive argument at home with his mother, but Raheem never quite makes it to his father’s.

Uche Aguh will write, direct and produce the script under the 55Media Banner, as part of the new Project55 initiative, an initiative that will yield a series of short films in 2021, all centered on Black Women. Long time collaborator, Dennis Schmitz, will co-produce on the Project and serve as the Director of Photography.

The Disappearance of Raheem Bankole starring Ssagala and Akinyemi is slated to commence production in June 2021 in London.

With the recent uptick in the disappearance of young Black kids in London, the subject matter is not only a timely one, but a deeply sensitive one. In April of 2021 Richard Okorogheye was reported missing from his West London home by his mother, and was later found dead in the Epping Forest by Metro police. The case of his disappearance and treatment by police received massive criticism from the general public.

Ssagala and Akinyemi will also serve as producers on the project. Shardiah Ssagala’s credits include Sambisa, Marriage Story produced by Euras Films, and will next be seen in the stage play Marry me now love me later debuting in July 2021 at the Tower Theatre in London. Kayode Akinyemi’s credits include The House Invictus, Comedy Central Drunk History: Black Stories, and I am Pilate.