I responded to an article on Ghanaweb (Ghana films! Who are we benchmarking against?) and my comments inspired this article. Many thanks to the lady who started the conversation.
In this article, I offer most of the same points, some more thoughts, and an invitation. Many of us have opinions and no matter how informed the opinion is, it cannot be substituted for a fact. So when people make the excuse that the video recordings of Ghanaians parading as films are a good effort, I refuse to accept that as a fact. It is an opinion and one of a person who thinks it is alright a Ghanaian film to be a grade-F film.
Here are the facts.
There is such a thing as good cinema and Ghanaian films are not exempt from living up to that standard. So when the writer (of the original article) asks who we are benchmarking against, I think that is a very relevant question. I will like to think she is saying it is not enough to have mediocre movies.
As she goes on to say, Ghanaians excel in so many disciplines and it in inexcusable that our film industry (which is one of our window-dressings) is of such poor caliber. Ghanaians are world-class scientists, surgeons, accountants, preachers, college professors, musicians, athletes, bankers, etc. and you tell me we cannot make better films than we are making now?
Thanks to Kwaa, one of the contributors to the original article, who made an offer to write the subtitles for the movies for free, as his contribution to the betterment of the industry. But I doubt if any of these producers will take him up on the offer. (Please let me know when they do).
The problem is that nobody seriously talks about learning the craft. The people who go to NAFTI are the people who could not get into a university and have to find some tertiary institution to enroll in. I bet none of the top twenty students at all the levels of each our educational careers are doing something other than in film. Yeah, there was that kid from your class, very bright, but did everything to become a science student even though everything about his future said actor/ film-maker!
The Spielbergs and Lucas’ of our time did not become film-makers because they could not do other things. They made conscious decision to follow a passion. Yeah, they knew they could fail but they ventured out anyway.
These days, all it takes is a video camera and a couple of concert people. What we have come to know as acting is people who can scream and put up exaggerated displays of human emotions. Last year, a young man based somewhere in California decided to ‘bless’ Ghanaians with what he believed was what the industry needed to take it to the next level. Yes, you guessed it, he made a porn movie. My problem in not the fact that it was porn (he is free to do that, even though I don’t endorse it) but I was disappointed that the whole production was another bang-bang-no-class presentation. But then again, he had neither class nor skill so what did you expect?
Last year, there was a movie called Beyonce. Even though I think there were some technical flaws, it was one example of how much better we can do if we try a little harder.
Granted that most Ghanaians have settled for the poor quality as "our best" (quoting Tee Wee, one of the contributors to the original article), there is a bunch of Ghanaians, and non-Ghanaians who will not watch even 2 minutes of the garbage that we like to call Ghanaian films.
If Kwaw Ansah's Love Brewed in an African Pot, Heritage Africa, and Kukurantumi Road to Accra are any examples to go by, the things on the shelves of most African stores cannot be said to be our best. In fact, they do not count.
So here's what I think:
1. Until we have film-makers who make the effort to learn the craft (screenwriting, lighting, editing, etc.) we will be in the same spot 20 years from now. You get what you put in.
2. Piracy is killing us. If the guy is going to spend time getting an education in film, only to invest this knowledge in an economy that thinks it's alright to pirate other people's films, we will continue to have problems.
3. Our culture is our way of life and it is vast. I agree with one of the comments about this out-of-context 'zulu'-like portrayals. A film could deal with the practical things people deal with everyday - infidelity, ingenuity, friendship, dilemas, etc. Again, it requires somebody sitting down with a pen and paper and deciding to think a little harder.
4. The audience for quality Ghanaian films exist. The bad films are ruling because my PhD friend for instance will not get even a Bachelors in Film even if he could. This is because history has shown us that most of these film practitioners end up broke. Save the fame, they are often paupers. But with a PhD in Economics, African Studies, or something more marketable, you can teach (even if you don't get a regular job).
5. I will like to think NAFTI was set up to take care of this national need. If you want to read about them, follow this link http://www.nafti.edu.gh/about.htm With the way things are, I will consider NAFTI a failed institution. Somebody needs to call the NAFTI director to parliament to answer some questions.
Let me make one more point.
The day is coming when all of this will change. It will take a few good men. Think of soccer and Pastorate as two classic examples.
Until the advent of the Duncan Williams, Tackie-Yabois, Otabil and the likes, being a pastor was for people who could not make a headway in life. And then came on the scene these bright people who could have being bankers, architects and the like but chose to be ministers. Even though the ways of some of them remain questionable, they changed the face of the game.
Until recently, soccer as a profession, was the domain of kubolo boys. And then people like Essien register a huge payday and then all of a sudden my could-have-been-a-soccer-star-but-became-a-factory-worker friend in America has to remind me of how great he would have been if he followed his passion. Essien is the extreme case, but there are a lot of Ghanaian soccer professional making an excellent living following their passion. So I know of a talented kid in New York who is seriously contemplating playing professional soccer after college. His mother, you guessed, does not want to hear any of it. She wants him to become a Pharmacist.
So if there are any young people out there with a passion in making Hollywood-quality movies, go for it. I can bet you that when Otabil decided to become a full-time minister, some of the people in his family looked at him and prayed he 'woke up' from the ‘non-sense’. But in less than 15 years, see how much the decision has positively affected lives, including mine.
And lest we take the success stories for granted, Otabil has had the success he has had because he took the trouble to learn how to do it right.
So here’s my invitation. Let’s grab some pop-corn and let’s hit the screens. I will love for it to be Ghanaian. But if it’s anything like the Asoreba and Girl at 16 a store clerk once recommended, I will pass. There are very good books by Ghanaian authors; I will read one of those.
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