It is a disgrace to have only two cinemas in Ghana – Abdul Salam

Film producer Abdul Salam Mumuni is not happy with the state of the cinema department of the country’s film industry.

According to him, the country currently has only two major cinemas which are in Accra, and described it as appalling for an industry that has great prospects on the African continent.

He told NEWS-ONE on Monday that government should intervene in providing more cinemas to liberate the Ghanaian film industry.

“It is ridiculous for us to have just two cinemas. Look at Hollywood and that of Nigeria’s movie industry. They have a lot of cinemas and it is a good thing for their industries. It is keeping them in business,” Salam stated.

He continued…“We need more cinemas in every district to help sell our movies because that’s the only way to survive since technology has killed the DVD and VCD market. The only way producers can make their money and stay in business now is the cinemas. The cinemas must be standard ones, of course.

That is what we need so that when we take money from the bank, we are sure of making the money back.”

He said there is a huge market for cinemas and everyone can’t come to Accra to patronise the only two cinemas, adding that it is, thus, imperative to take cinemas to the doorsteps of the people in their districts.

Salam’s call follows a recent proposal by Leila Djansi to President Akufo-Addo on pragmatic measures that the government should to take in supporting the film industry.

According to her, one of the best options for government to support the country’s film industry is to set up grant in the form of a loan scheme that filmmakers can access rather than hand them free cash. She also spoke about the need for “more workshops, creating an enabling environment for collaborative filmmaking.”

Salam indicated that after all said and done, marketing the movie is very important for producers to make back the money “and that is why the industry needs more cinemas”.

Because of lack more cinemas, he revealed, “These days I have been shooting more series and put them on Iroko TV online. Very soon, we will be launching Iroko APP that will permit people to download and watch our movies through this application.”