Cinema before independence
It was the British colonists who introduced cinema to Ghana in the 1920s, through private operators. Initially, access was very limited, reserved mainly for colonists and officials. However, a number of itinerant initiatives were soon set up to spread cinema to the countryside and the local population. This movement became even more pronounced after the Second World War, with the aim of disseminating propaganda, educating and controlling Ghanaians. It was against this backdrop that Gold Coast Film, founded in 1948, began to establish a veritable production industry in the country. The colonial filmmakers set in motion a creative dynamic involving Ghanaians, who were to form the first generation of filmmakers after independence.
Few films from this period are visible, and their cinematic interest is often debatable. Let's concentrate instead on Ghanaian films from the second half of the twentieth century, and on the rise of national cinema in the 1980s.
From state industry to Ghallywood cinema
After independence, President Nkrumah established the Ghana Film Industry Corporation (GFIC) in 1964. It was through this organization that all production was channeled until the early 1980s, and where directors such as Kwaw Ansah and Ernest Abbeyquaye were trained. Ansah was the first to break away from the straitjacket of the GFIC and, after several years' work, released Love Brewed in the African Pot (1980). The film, a comedy-drama about the forbidden love between two lovers from different social classes, was an almost immediate success. After winning the Oumarou Ganda Award for Best First Film at FESPACO, and the Silver Peacock at the International Film Festival of India, it went on to be seen throughout English-speaking Africa and the rest of the world. Despite this success, it took the filmmaker almost ten years to complete his second film, Heritage Africa (1989), which was also a great international success. Since then, Ansah has pursued his career in both directing and producing, and is now one of Ghana's leading filmmakers, a founding member of the Ghana Academy of Film and Television Arts in 2001. He was also among those who spoke out against the sale of a majority stake in GFIC to a foreign private company. A tragedy for the country's history, from which the local industry has yet to fully recover. The broadening of the production spectrum, as well as the development of new markets in partnership with Nigeria, the region's major hub for English-language cinema, has boosted the local industry in recent years. In 2017, filmmaker Peter Sedufia, who trained at NAFTI, the Accra Film and Television School, released his first feature Keteke. A comedy-drama, not necessarily representative of what Ghallywood cinema is mainly made up of, but a film that will be screened at the Hamburg Film Festival nonetheless. At the same time, Ghanaian productions have diversified, ranging from low-budget horror and genre films to witchcraft and science fiction, with fluctuating levels of quality that nonetheless find their audience. A parallel Twi industry has also developed in the Kumasi region, quickly earning the nickname Kumawood.
International film shoots and Hollywood films in Ghana
Among the filmmakers who have had the opportunity to shoot in Ghana, international productions are few and far between. Nevertheless, some of them have left their mark on the country's cinematic heritage, as far back as the 1980s. Indeed, it was at Elmina Fort that Werner Herzog shot his film Cobra Verde (1987), starring his favorite actor Klaus Kinski. Co-produced with Ghana, Cobra Verde tells the unsavory story of the eponymous Brazilian bandit, sent by Portugal to the Dahomey region to be the country's last slave trader. The film marks the last collaboration between the actor and filmmaker, whose relationship was already very stormy at the start of shooting. Numerous Ghanaian extras were also used during the scenes in Ghana, and the film, despite its difficult subject matter, deals respectfully with local traditions without lapsing too far into anthropology. A few years later, it was Will Smith's turn to visit Accra, as Mohammed Ali in Michael Mann's Ali (2001). The event drew hundreds of curious onlookers to Independence Square, for a re-enactment of the boxer's visit to the Ghanaian president in 1966. For the record, Will Smith had previously turned down the role. It was only after receiving a phone call from the champion himself that he finally agreed. Rumor has it that Muhammad Ali didn't want to be played by anyone other than Smith.
Recently, two high-profile films have been partly shot in Ghana. Cary Joji Fukunaga, the director behind the first season of the True Detective series (2014), and the memorable Dying Can Wait (2021), stopped off in Ghana in 2015 for Beast of No Nation. A tragic tale based on the experiences of Agu, a child soldier engaged in armed conflict in an unnamed African country. Winner of multiple international awards, the film is also one of the first original productions on the Netflix platform. An exercise to which the streaming giant is now accustomed. Finally, in 2021-2022, Ghana hosted the filming of The Woman King (2022), an epic fresco telling the story of the Agojie, warriors of Dahomey, and their queen, played by Viola Davis(The Color of Sentiments, or the series How to get away with murder). Directed by filmmaker Gina Prince-Bythewood, the film also features the talents of Lashana Lynch(Dying Can Wait), John Boyega(Pacific Rim, Star Wars) and Sheila Atim. A good adventure story, while telling the history of the region in a new, resolutely contemporary light.
