Ghana's
film industry dates as far back as 1948 when the Gold Coast Film Unit
was set up in the Information Services Department. African Pictures Ltd.
started operations about the same time. In 1971, the Ghana Film
Industry Corporation was created as a corporate body but ceased to exist
as far back as 1996 when it was divested and a greater percentage of
its equity holding were sold to Malaysian interests. Long before the
divestiture, the Corporation had stopped the production of black and
white films as from 1990. The laboratory itself was not properly
functionnal and was limited to the cleaning of black and white negative
films and some positive films. Some internationally recognised
filmmakers have come from Ghana. John Akomfrak's Goldie, when Saturn
Returnz (1998) joined the festival circuit in 1999. Ghana's best-known
filmmaker is Kwah Ansah of Film Africa fame whose two films, Love Brewed
in the African Pot (1980) and Heritage Africa (1988) won more than 12
awards.
In 1999 the Ghana Film Awards were instituted to acknowledge the efforts of distinguished crew and cast. Notable among the entries that were nominated and which won awards were A Stab in the Dark, parts 1 & 2 and Ripples, parts 1 & 2. Both were directed by Veronica Quashie, a graduate of the National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI). In recent times there has been some collaboration between Ghanaian and Nigerian crew and cast with a number of productions being turned out. Among these co-productions were Web and Lost Hope, which received nominations at the Ghana Film Awards. Though Ghana shares borders with Francophone neighbours, so far there has not been any co-production to hit the Ghanaian screen. This has been attributed to the lack of funding as well as to language. Ben Musa Imora of Ghana, vice-president of the Video and Film Producers Association of Ghana in West-Africa, spoke about a video-boom in his country. These efforts of networking with other African countries to sell products was a cheaper way of making and marketing films. Many film makers used their own family members in films as actors to produce videos which were very popular in his country. The videos were shown in humble venues such as garages, churches and community halls.
In 1999 the Ghana Film Awards were instituted to acknowledge the efforts of distinguished crew and cast. Notable among the entries that were nominated and which won awards were A Stab in the Dark, parts 1 & 2 and Ripples, parts 1 & 2. Both were directed by Veronica Quashie, a graduate of the National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI). In recent times there has been some collaboration between Ghanaian and Nigerian crew and cast with a number of productions being turned out. Among these co-productions were Web and Lost Hope, which received nominations at the Ghana Film Awards. Though Ghana shares borders with Francophone neighbours, so far there has not been any co-production to hit the Ghanaian screen. This has been attributed to the lack of funding as well as to language. Ben Musa Imora of Ghana, vice-president of the Video and Film Producers Association of Ghana in West-Africa, spoke about a video-boom in his country. These efforts of networking with other African countries to sell products was a cheaper way of making and marketing films. Many film makers used their own family members in films as actors to produce videos which were very popular in his country. The videos were shown in humble venues such as garages, churches and community halls.
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