Film producers in Kumasi to hold dumsor vigil
Members of the Film Producers Association of Ghana (FIPAG) will, on May 28, 2015, organise a dumsor vigil in Kumasi to protest against the negative effects of the energy crisis on the industry.
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The association has received approval from the police to embark on the vigil, which is scheduled for 3 p.m. on that day.
Dubbed: Esum aduru yen, to wit, ‘We have been swallowed by darkness’, the vigil will start from the Centre for National Culture in Kumasi, through the Bantama High Street, the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) to Kejetia and some principal streets of Kumasi before ending at the Adum Post Office.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, the FIPAG Secretary, Mr James Aboagye, explained that the power crisis had brought untold hardships on the film industry and was negatively affecting the players.
Drop in sales
According to him, most filmmakers were running at a loss due to the power crisis, as people “do not buy our CDs because they have no power at home to watch the films”.
He said as a result of the energy crisis, “we are not able to sell more than 5,000 copies of films produced, after spending close to GH¢90,000 on production.
“Clearly, some of us are not even breaking even and investment in the industry has also drastically reduced, rendering most people jobless,” he said.
He said before the crisis, producers could release more than 50 films per month, but “we can only manage at most 12 a month”.
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Loss of capital
He said most investors had lost their capital as a result of the power crisis and were being chased by their bankers.
He added that one of their members had just lost his house, as his bankers had taken possession of the house for failure to repay his loan.