Government of Ghana confers State honour on Sean Graham

On Wednesday the 30th of September, His Excellency Victor Emmanuel Smith, Ghana’s High Commissioner to the UK and Ireland on behalf of the President of the Republic of Ghana, HE John Dramani Mahama, conferred the State Honour of Member of the Volta (MV) on British film maker Mr Sean Graham, at the Charing Cross Hospital in London.

The citation read on behalf of the President, by the High Commissioner, praised Sean Graham for the invaluable work he did in Ghana a country he had adopted as his home.

It noted how Sean Graham richly portrayed Ghana’s cultural heritage through the many films he produced and praised him for his valour in presenting uniquely Ghanaian narratives even under colonialism.

The citation noted that being the first film director of the Gold Coast Film Unit, later Ghana Film Industry Corporation from the mid 1940s, Sean Graham played a pioneering role in the development and growth of the film industry in Ghana.

It recalled with nostalgia the popular film, “The Boy Kumasenu”, which was the first full-length feature film to be made by the Gold Coast Film Unit.

It noted that the film won international awards due to the high standards that the pioneers of the Ghana Film Unit had set, and praised the efforts of such pioneers as Sam Aryeetey, R. O. Fenuku, and Reverend Dr Chris Hesse.

The citation thanked them for their crucial role as forbearers of Ghana’s history, and recounted instances when the educational films they had produced had whipped “our national interests, and boosted our collective pride as Ghanaians.”

Accompanying High Commission Smith to the Charing Cross hospital where the conferment of State Honour was done, were Mr. George Blankson, Head of Welfare and Consular Services of the Ghana High Commission and Mr. Peter Taylor, Head of Economic and Political Affairs of the Mission.

Together with Rev Dr. Chris Hesse, they were warmly received by Sean Graham who in the company of his family, expressed personal gratitude for the award.

For Rev Hesse and Sean Graham, it was more than an occasion to honour a pioneer.

It was also an occasion to savour the past and recollect the good old days of cinema and motion picture.

Looking on, it was impossible to miss the inevitable passage of both a generation of filmmakers and their craft. Maybe, our smartphone generation still owes that generation gratitude, and above all, valuable lessons.