EDITOR’S LENS: Dear GH filmmakers, where are you?

The second edition of Africa Cinema Summit (ACS) took place last week with a number of relevant players in the African Film industry holding vital conversations on the growth of the Africa Cinema, the film industry and the way forward.

While the platform undoubtedly offered a rich experience for patrons, it was quite disheartening to observe that Ghana as host country, had most of its key players in the film industry conspicuously missing at the summit.

And it was more embarrassing when renowned Nigerian film producer, Kunle Afolayan, raised concerns about the incident during a presentation.

Kunle questioned why most Ghanaian film industry players from the host country were missing at the conference which brought together the crème de la crème of African film industry under one roof.

He disclosed that he had personally called a number of actors and producers who were his friends on why they didn’t attend the summit; unfortunately, they had no good excuse for their absence.

He challenged them to do better going forward since Nigerians irrespective of the constant bickering among industry players, were always united for a positive cause.

Kunle’s sentiments have been re-echoed by actress Gloria Sarfo, who described the situation as disheartening and embarrassing for Ghana’s film industry especially when Ghana was host country.

Graphic Showbiz shares in the opinions of both Kunle and Gloria Sarfo and believes that the absence of key players doesn’t speak well of an industry that hopes to favourably compete on the global stage.

Interestingly, while Ghanaian players were noticeably absent, Nigerian filmmakers were fully in action, holding panel discussions and selling their craft and works to prospective global film investors.

In the words of Kunle Afolayan, he clocked some good deals when he attended last year’s event as a guest and it is quite unfortunate that film players in Ghana were not taking advantage of the summit.

It is very possible that some actors and producers were on set but that isn’t an excuse, particularly for their loud absence, necessitating the scream, “Where are your industry players?” by Kunle  

It’s very shameful that Ghana can’t proudly own up to an event of this relevance on the African continent even when it’s on their doorstep. It’s a shame, can we do better?