Potential for movie industry in Volta Region huge - FDGG President

Mr Yaw Boateng, President of Film Directors Guild of Ghana, has observed that Volta Region has huge potential for the movie industry.

He noted that the Region's market for local movie penetrated the sub-region with Ewe speaking people in Benin, Nigeria, Togo and Cote d'Ivoire and called for investment in the sector.

Mr Boateng made the observation when he met stakeholders in the sector during a data collection exercise for the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts.

The nationwide exercise is geared towards establishing a film council to revive the industry.

Mr Boateng said studies indicated that the movie industry in the Volta Region was viable and that what was needed was training for players in the sector.

He said the Region also needed cinema halls, equipment and some funding for people in the sector to reposition the industry to reduce youth unemployment.

"It is pathetic that we don't have a single cinema hall in the Region. In this day of technology and piracy, we need those infrastructures to break even and sustain the industry," Mr Boateng said.

"Vollywood" the common name for the movie industry in the Volta Region was said to focus on "true untold stories of people of Ewe lineage and general storylines of life."

The movies are however not popular due to lack of publicity on television, making the industry unattractive.