My first Ghanaian movie was Love Brewed in the African Pot. I cried. I was young then but I remember the impact it had on me then, brilliant acting which wrung tears out of my youngling eyes. Then came AMA , another classic Oscar deserving movie which succeeded at making my eyes wet again! Darn!
The rest of the movies which followed are fuzzy, maybe because they werent all that. What I recollect however some years to come just around the 90's was how most of the Ghanaian movies were soaked deep in witchcraft and cult themes.
The year 2011 is almost ended, and i just got to ask, how far has Ghanaian movies come Hmm??
It was so obvious in the early parts of the millennium the rapid influx of Nigerian movies on the Ghanaian market. Do you remember Aki and Popo? Nigerian movies brought some freshness to the Ghanaian television but trust Ghanaian movie producers to copy the story lines and props. Why can't they be more original and creative? What really is preventing directors and producers to use props which reflect the Ghanaian culture? Have you realized how so similar a Ghanaian movie about with a village set-up looks just like the ones in the Nigerian movies? I know for sure its not the Nigerians who are copying.
Hollywood = America; Nollywood= Nigeria and no prizes for guessing the name given to the Ghanaian movie industry. Ghallywood. Seriously?
It's amazing how a newly released movie all of a sudden has part 1 and 2 immediately it's released. Doesnt this go to show that movie producers aren't interested in the quality of movies rather more in the jingle of their pockets. An excellent example is Kyeiwaa part 1, 2, 3-15? I kid you not.
The Kings Daughter, Blood Kingdom, Obinim, Agya Koo Armed Robber… are just a few of the movie titles in 'Ghallywood'. I think more work has to be done on movie titles if we are looking at the international movie industry. Can you imagine an Oscar show host trying to pronounce a name like 'Abrabo y3 dzin'? Laughable.
What's your favorite Ghanaian movie? I prefer the series more such as Sun City, Things we do for love and Home Sweet Home, those were some really enlightening and entertaining series. It would be interesting if the producers of those series considered the Big Screen.
Our movie industry needs help. Thankfully i can see hope in directors like Shirley Frempong Manso and Leila Djansi