Lack of money, support, distribution platforms responsible for poor quality movies - Beverly Afaglo

As the discussions on the movie industry in Ghana continue, Ghanaian actress Beverly Afaglo has backed claims that the quality of production of many Ghanaian movies is low.

Speaking in an interview with Hitz FM on July 18, 2024, she shared her views on the current state of the country’s movie industry and the challenges stakeholders face.

Asked if she agreed with an assertion by fellow actor Adjetey Anang that there was a low level of production in Ghanaian movies being released, she agreed, stating, “Oh yes.”

She attributed this to a lack of funding and low patronage, noting that Ghanaians are not supporting local films as they once did and rather prefer foreign content on streaming platforms.

“There’s no money in the system. One and two, patronage is very low. Ghanaians are not supporting us in any way. I think everybody’s running to YouTube,” she said.

Afaglo suggested a return to traditional methods of screening films in small town halls to reconnect with audiences.

“I think this cinema thing is not working. You should go back to the olden days when you go to the villages and you have a small hall, a town hall or something, that we can just take about 100 to 200 people and let the people feel us, let them watch our movies.

“At the end of the day, when we do one city to another, one village to another, they will get to interact and see that movies are still working because at the moment the major productions are only coming from DSTV,” she said.

She added that many major productions are only distributed by DStv, which limits the visibility of local content to those without access to the platform.

“So, if you’re even hearing of a producer working, like Shirley Frimpong Manso is working back to back, but it’s from DSTV. It’s not Shelley’s money… So, at the end of the day, if they produce a series or something, it gets on only DStv. There’s no other platform that can have that series. How many people have DSTV in Ghana? I was on a series on DSTV and it was constant for five days every week, inside out. But people still see me and ask me, are you still acting? And I said, ‘I’m on TV every day. But it’s on DSTV’. Where would they see us?” she said.

She also pointed out the significant distribution challenges faced by producers, who struggle to recoup their investments due to the lack of effective distribution platforms.

According to her, this financial strain discourages further production efforts.

“And where we see our movie industry right now, distribution is a big problem. And because we don’t have distribution platforms or avenues, people produce and they’re stuck. Because if I put 100,000 or 200,000 into a movie, I expect to recoup it immediately, but we don’t have distribution platforms. So by the time we finish the premieres and let’s say the person has even recouped like 50,000. The rest of the money, when is he going to get it back? So when that happens, the producers are laid back,” she added.

ID/NOQ

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