Ghana film and TV to be bolstered by NAFTI

King Ampaw films to be focus of 2012 lectures

by BELINDA HENYA & ROSEMARY KRAMPAH, Accra-Mail.com

The National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI) in collaboration with Goethe Institut have launched the 2nd Annual Lectures on Ghanaian motion pictures in Accra.

Speaking at the launch, Professor Linus Abraham, Rector of NAFTI said the lectures were instituted last year in reaction to public criticism that the institute was to be blame for the poor performance in the film industry in Ghana.

He said the criticism drew attention to the importance of NAFTI as an institution to strengthen the movie industry.

The 2012 lectures he said will celebrate the work of filmmaker King Ampaw, one of Ghana’s premiere filmmakers.

Prof. Abraham commended the CEO of TV Africa Mr. Kwaw and King Ampaw, who have helped the Ghanaian movie industry to attract international attention.

He said King Ampaw for example helped tremendously in promoting German–Ghana collaboration and co-production in film.

Prof. Linus Abraham has said a country’s identity is known through its beliefs and norms - there is the need to tell stories with the use of technology in order to find a place in the global arena.

He said a new awakening and focus for the cinema and film industry is on the threshold with the investment of GH¢ 2million for the creative arts industry as provided by the 2012 national budget.

He said the film and cinema industry can be revived if efforts are made to invest in talents and creativity. He said the industry has the potential to boom up despite the challenges it’s facing.

He said social critics are faulting the industry for its poor quality narratives and its dissemination of negative stereotypes. He mentioned witchcraft, drug dealers, gratuitous sex and violence.

He said there is the need to address the film, television and broadcasting industries in Ghana to attract the global market.

Ghana, he said, needed to create an enhanced image for the Ghana Movie Industry and called on the government, the private sector and the players in the movie industry to support the efforts.

The Board Chairman of NAFTI Professor Kofi Anyidoho said for the past twenty-five years the Ghanaian movie industry “is nothing to write about.”

He said the goal of the lecturers, held annually in February, is to highlight the role film and television play in the economic and social development of the country; they are also to showcase Ghana’s finest film-makers and their contributions to the industry and to research on the industry to provide a platform for students, academics and professionals in the movie industry.

King Ampaw, the 2012 laureate. was born on the 25TH of July 1940 in Kukurantumi in the Eastern Region of Ghana.

He is married with two sons. He has produced, directed and acted in a number of films including “Nana Akoto/ Juju” (1985), “Kukurantumi – Road to Accra” (1983), “No Time to Die” (2007) and “Cobra Verde” (1987) among others.

His works are recognized internationally and have won awards including the Film Critics Award for Kukurantumi at Fespaco in Ouagadougou, Input Film Award for Juju in Czechoslovakia, Talifa Film Festival Award in Spain for No Time to die and The first filmmaker to win an Honorary Award at the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) in Nigeria and other awards in Germany.