‘Ghanaian writers must be versatile’

President of the Ghana Writers Awards (GWA), Mr. Zadok Kwame Gyesi, has cautioned the Ghanaian movie industry to preserve the country’s culture through their movies rather than glorifying practices which are alien to the country.

“Very soon our children will all become witches and wizards because they only see witches and wizards in the local movies they watch”, he said, adding that “we are now disgracing ourselves on the international stage as a result of these fallacious movies”.

Mr. Gyesi who is a poet and writer said the Ghana Writers Awards had put in place to measures to reverse the trend which he described as “woeful disgrace” to the rich Ghanaian culture and traditions that had been preserved over the centuries.

“Until we realize as a country the need to appreciate and recognize our writers, we will continue to produce these mediocre movies that is full of comic, lies and witch crafts”, he said, adding that “Because the producers think they can do everything alone, they write anything and produced it without approaching professional playwrights for their scripts. Being an actor or producer does not automatically make you a playwright.

Speaking exclusively to GhanaWeb, Mr Gyesi pointed out that the nature of the Ghanaian movie industry and said both Ghanaian children and adults were gradually appreciating foreign cultures because they learned something valuable from foreign movies. “It is very sad that these movies have been allowed to be sold on the markets to pollute the minds of people about Ghanaians. Which part of Ghana can we find these things they show in the movies? Do we have these in Ghana?” he lamented, stressing that “Sometimes some of the things they portray in the movies are strange to our society”.

In addition, Mr. Gyesi said, “It is about time we demanded some apologies from the movies producers in the country who are deliberately disgracing the country to the other parts of the world in their movies”.

“One thing that we must bear in mind when coming out with these movies is that people who are watching and believe you me, people learn about a country through their movies”, he indicated.

On her part, Deputy Secretary of GWA,Dorcas Naana Owusu Afriyie, said although witchcraft was part of the country’s beliefs, the practice could, however, be toned down.

“I believe there is God and there is also a witchcraft but we can minimize the rate at which we feature witchcraft in our movies”, she said, adding “If we always make it seem like it is some witch or wizard who is not making us prosperous when in fact it is due to a bad investment, then, there is going to be a problem”.

Ms Afriyie, advised movie producers to inform their viewers about the fictional elements in their movies in order to clear the doubt of the people who watch such movies.

“I think before a movie with these witchcraft elements is shown, there must be something written to notify viewers about its fictional aspect so that people wouldn’t think all older women or mother-in-laws are witches.

She expressed worry over the fact that movie producers in the country had ignored Ghanaian playwrights for professional scripts.

Deputy Coordinator of GWA, Ms Victoria Naa Takia Nunoo said: “Gone were the days when we still enjoyed our movies without comparing them to others because they had a story to tell”, noting that “today, the alarming rate at which movies are being released and the horrifying content of these movies makes one wonder at all how much preparation goes into each production”.

She added that “I often wonder what stories we are trying to tell as a country with each release of a movie”.

Ms Nunoo who is a poet and motivational writer indicated that it seemed our modern country was still stuck in a depressing state of thought where it focus continued to glide into the negatives of our society.

“Of course, one may argue that they are everyday happenings in our typical society, call them spiritual or whatever but why continue to tell such stories?” she questioned.

According to her, such movies did not inspire or motivate its viewers, saying, “I believe our line of thought as Africans and Ghanaians for that matter is evident in the movies we make and the society’s choice”.

Ms Nunoo explained that “there is just too much negativity, lack of creativity and imagination. If we must move forward as a nation, our way of thinking must be refined too”.