Ghana must make Ananse a hero - Juliet Asante

The Chief Executive Officer of the National Film Authority (NFA), Juliet Yaa Asantewaa Asante, has called on Ghanaians to be deliberate about promoting the popular Kweku Ananse character from Ghanaian folklore as a hero.

According to her, many young people in Ghana are not familiar with the cunning and wise spider trickster, Kweku Ananse, and instead look up to foreign characters like Superman as their heroes.

Speaking at a presentation awards ceremony at The Script Bank project by NFA in Accra recently, Ms. Asante lamented the fact that Ghanaian children were more likely to know about Superman than Ananse, a character who is deeply rooted in Ghanaian culture and folklore.

"We need to be deliberate about promoting our own heroes and characters. Ananse is a beloved character in Ghanaian folklore, and we should be celebrating him as a hero, rather than looking up to foreign characters,” she said.

She argued that promoting Ananse as a hero would not only help to preserve Ghanaian culture and folklore but also provide young people with a positive role model who embodies the values of wisdom, cunning, and resourcefulness.

“We should be proud of our roots. This is ours and even though Ananse is always projected in the negative light, there’s a way we can make him positive to empower young people with a sense of pride and identity in their cultural heritage,” she said.

It’s in this light that NFA charged competitors of The Script Bank project to write scripts about Ananse.

Over 300 scripts were submitted and Nana Akosua’s script, titled, “The Seamless Heist” emerged tops. She walked home with GHC5,000.(Related article: Nana Akosua Asieduaa Asare wins NFA’s The Script Bank project

Adusei Gabriel Kwarteng, a lab technician and graduate of Accra Technical University placed second with “Meet Kwaku Ananse” while Kobby Owusu Cole, a law student of the University of Ghana placed third with the story, “The African Messiah”.

The first and second runners up received GHS 3,000 and GHS 2000 respectively.

The Script Bank project reinforces NFA’s commitment to train the next generation of filmmakers by providing a platform where young writers can submit their work, receive feedback and potentially see their stories come to life on the screens.

More importantly, it served the means for the young generation to create their own stories about the popular folklore character, Kwaku Ananse.