Ghana is not a country that comes to mind when the movie industry is mentioned. This is hard to swallow given that Nigeria’s movie industry, creatively named Nollywood, has become the 3rd biggest movie industry in the world and 2nd only to Bollywood for volume of films released. It is fair to say Ghana doesn’t come close, and with our latest offerings, the gap is going to grow even wider. Which is surprising considering the pile of [insert rude word] coming out of Nollywood, too. Has it always been this bad? Let’s look at the rise and fall of the Ghanaian cinema and how it could be resurrected.
The Good old days?
I grew up watching mostly Ghanaian films; The Stab in the dark-ripples series, Asɛm, Sakina and Nico, Kofi Nkrabea, Daaviooo Daavi, and the one with Edinam Atatsi where a hitman is set up to kill someone, unaware that it is his relative…Anyway, these are a mixture of my favourite films and the ones I can remember. These films, at the very least, had intriguing story lines, and the acting was generally good. It felt natural. I remember watching Mama Mia (No! not the one with James Bond attempting to sing) and being scared so much. I did not sleep that night. Mostly because I found out that night, you could travel abroad and still your mother could teleport herself there via witchcraft. Which raises the question, why did she let her son buy a plane ticket? It is as Paapa Yankson sang, “The white man used his witchcraft to create an aeroplane”. The point is, this film had an emotional impact on me, and I am sure on most kids watching at the time. Which evidently is what a good movie does. This isn’t to say there wasn’t a fair share of B-movies out there. ‘Diabolo’, ‘Idikoko’s Stolen Bible’, etc. Films were so ridiculous that they became cult classics. Take Diabolo, for example, a film about a man who turns into a snake and crawls up women’s skirts –or maybe I was watching a different film? Ironically, these films, as is the current norm, were released in 2 and 3 parts, sometimes even 4. In the case of ‘Yaa Asantewaa’, there is a part 7! The graphics were bad then, but at least it was the 90’s.
The Nigerian Influence.
I don’t know when, but it got to a time when Nigerian films started to permeate the Ghanaian scene. ‘Baka Boys’, ‘Lady Bianca’, ‘Agumba’, ‘Silent Night’, ‘Isakaba’, to name a few. Then there was ‘Witches’: A film so scary, I was scared walking in daylight. It became a talking point on Monday in school after it was shown on TV the night before. The following Sunday, churches were packed. These films were a hit mainly because it was new and refreshing. It had a new style and new actors, and it revived the Ghanaian movie circuit, which at the time seemed to revolve around people turning into vultures or spitting fire or someone killing the protagonist(mostly for blood money), the protagonist’s ghost then haunts them until ultimately they go mad or commit suicide. At least in Nigerian films, people were turning into cats instead of vultures. We loved it! Over time, these hits kept coming until it got to a time when Nigerian movies had saturated Ghana. No one was buying or watching Ghanaian films anymore.
Things got worse around the years 2002-3 when Nigeria played its trump card. ‘Aki na Ukwa’ was released! What followed was hysteria like no other. Mostly because most of us were wondering if Chinedu Ikedieze and Osita Iheme were children or dwarfs. If their discovery was crude oil, then Nollywood was an American. How they milked it. It got to a stage when it felt only these 2 were making movies, or at least they were the ones being marketed. No wonder it got boring quickly. Prior to and during that era, the Nigerian and Ghana movie industry had formed a collaboration which began to produce some high quality movies. It is a shame I cannot remember their names. However it is their own fault for creating generic film titles. This collaboration somehow seized. The nollywood influx didn’t just give us long sequences of rich people parking their cars and armed robbery, but provided some of the best actors. Think Segun Arinze, Zack Orji, Liz Benson, Tony Umez, Patience Ozokor, Pete Idochi, Kanayo O Kanayo, Genevieve Nnaji. There is not enough space to list.
The western approach vs. Local power.
Currently there is a power struggle in Ghana. This however is not between an elephant and an umbrella. I read somewhere on the web that current Ghanaian movies can be categorised into 2 types; Accra or Kumasi movies.
Accra movies as the name depicts are mostly filmed in Accra or sometimes Takoradi. They mostly involve characters with successful careers and have friends who are all in similar positions. They usually happen to find themselves in some sort of relationship or emotional turmoil which forms the plot of the film. These films also tend to be produced by Shirley Frimpong Manso’s Sparrow productions. Perfect Picture, A sting in the tale, Scorned et al are typical examples of an Accra Movie. These films follow the western approach to film making with their highly aspirational characters, well composed scenes, shot with high(ish) end cameras and the acting is usually good sometimes a bit too rigid or over acted. Nonetheless this appears to be a step in the right direction and kudos to the team behind it.
What makes these films successful is what I’m finding to be their downfall. First, when watching any of the Accra movies, I find that I cannot relate to the characters. They seem too polished. Their lives are akin to an episode of The OC or Gossip Girl. I am sure the directors’ idea was not to show Ghana as the poverty-stricken country we see on the news, but also to show the rich and beautiful parts. The truth, though, is that most Ghanaians don’t live like that. Secondly, and I think this is the bigger issue here. In most of these films, the same actors are cast to play in almost similar roles to the extent that when I am watching the film, I do not see a character. All I see is Jackie Appiah, Madjid Michael, Nadia Buari or Adjettey Annan. Surely there are more than 10 actors in Ghana, and even if there weren’t (which isn’t true), these actors surely have more acting range than what is being offered to them. By acting range, I don’t mean just adding sex scenes. I will save my musings on that for another day.
Now, if you do not like these Accra films because you feel they cater for the youthful Accra mall shopper, your alternative is the Kumasi film. If the label is accurate, then, as most of these films are set in villages and suburbs, it follows that Kumasi, the second biggest city in Ghana, is a village. Maybe it is because they are produced mainly in the local Twi language, and the Twi capital is probably Kumasi. Kumasi films are very popular due to the fact that they deal with things that most Ghanaians can relate to like arguments between tenants over light bills or oluman perverts in the neighbourhood. But its success can largely be attributed to Kofi Adu a.k.a Agya Koo. After winning Ghana’s key soap concert party stand-up comedy award numerous times, it is fair to say the man is simply funny. He can turn any situation into a comedic one. Unfortunately, Agya Koo cannot speak English very well, hence he is only known to Ghanaians. We cannot market him internationally as the Nigerians did with Nkem Owoh and the classic Osuofia in London. If only these films had subtitles… Anyone who has watched an Agya Koo film will know that they do contain subtitles. However, sometimes they are written in blue and other times the font used is Vivaldi. Thus guaranteeing illegibility. The few times you can read them, they are likely to contain spelling and grammar errors or worse, they do not describe what the character is saying. Imagine you are not a Ghanaian or non–native Twi speaker like over 40% of Ghanaians, and you are watching an Agya Koo movie. Agya Koo goes on a 5-minute rant, dishing out some of the funniest insults. All the two speakers in the room are in hysterics, but not you, because for the duration of the rant, the subtitle displays “Agya Koo insults the man”. I watched Pan’s Labyrinth and didn’t even notice the film was in Spanish. That is what subtitles are supposed to do. Do not describe the action (which you can see) to me.
You may have noticed my repetition of the word Agya Koo. Just like the Accra movie, the typecasting of Agya Koo has limited the marketability of the guy. He is simply in too many movies playing the same person. This is not a standalone issue; Kwaku Manu, alias ‘me Taste’ and Felix Katawere all play themselves in every film they make. Like a comedian with no new jokes, you will eventually become boring.
In conclusion, most of the films being released are not doing the filmmakers justice at all. Our movie industry is on the brink, and one does question why most movies being produced are either too polished, defy realism, or so shoddy that they can only be taken seriously as a comedy film. Part 2 of this series will address the new breed of films coming out in Ghana. Kumasi film-turn-Sci-Fi and the results (as you are probably aware of) are astonishing. I will also ramble on about the recent sexually charged films hitting the video shelves. We can only sit and wait for the day when Kwaku Manu stands in the rain, looks deeply into the eyes of Yvonne Nelson after a long passionate kiss and whispers to her lovingly, “Wo yɛ me taste”! Now that’s a film I want to see.