COMING UP!>>Episode #63 (Season 3; Ep.19): Towards an African Personality (2): Does Ghanaian & Pan-African Film (& Media) Have Shared Values?

Episode #63 

(Season 3; Ep.19):  

Towards an African Personality (2):

Does Ghanaian & Pan-African Film (& Media) Have Shared Values?

24^th February is an important day in Ghana’s history – and especially this year as it is exactly fifty years since the coup that saw the exit of Osagyefo Dr.Kwame Nkrumah from Ghana’s political scene.

Twelve months ago when we initiated the first of our series on “Towards an African Personality”, we spoke to one of the upcoming Ghanaian film directors Pascal Aka. In the interview, he urged those within the movie industry to consider the international context, and start writing stories that transcend the local context.

ETV Ghana's JOT Agyeman, a former actor himself, and seasoned script-writer, expressed disappointment at the nomenclature of "Ghallywood"; and "Nollywood", which he considers unnecessary. Kumawood, in his view, is not film, but "concert party on video".

Finally, Homebase TV Ghana's Elijah Iposu, a producer and director, encouraged Ghanaians and Nigerians to get back to what our fathers in Nkrumah did – by bringing together both Ghanaian and Nigerian film-makers to learn from each other to take Pan-African film to even greater heights.

Even more importantly, we need, in his view, to get to the stage where we can tell a witchcraft story, like Harry Potter, and go beyond ridicule of some of the Kumawood renditions of the same theme!

In Ep.63 (Season 3, ep.19) of the Show, we want to use the show to continue the conversation through the angle of “Shared Norms and Values”, which the AU declared in 2012. Africa’s continental organisation has one definition that describes it thus:

“…the concept of African men and women working together to develop the region and to address the political, economic and social challenges that the continent faces…”

The AU is always quick to remind us about the Shared Norms and Values Africans possess, for which reason architectures like that of the Africa Peace and Security Architecture and African Governance Architecture exist.

If Africa can have Shared Norms and Values on peace and security; and governance, then, surely, we must have same-such values for Film and Media?

In September 2015, delegates from thirteen African countries met in Nairobi from a two-day workshop to review a report on the State of the Africa audiovisual and cinema/film sector that would serve as a basis for the establishment of the Africa Audio Visual Cinema Commission (AACC) and the African Film Fund. It was organized by the AU and the Pan African Federation of Filmmakers (FEPACI).

Apart from the fact that it happened on the blind side of much of Africa’s media, what we do know from reports is this:  the report talked about the increasing recognition in African countries of the critical role of the creative economy in human progress, and the range of social and economic benefits that derive from it. It also noted that, Nigeria; South Africa; Kenya; and Egypt lead African countries in annual film revenue.

We also know this: The African Media Initiative (AMI) and FEPACI in 2015 signed an MoU to work together to strengthen and enhance the sector’s ability to contribute to development and to promote the creation of quality African audiovisual and film content. The two organizations will also consider mechanisms for promoting widespread distribution of African film on the continent and beyond.

To which we ask: why has it taken Ghana, and Africa, so long to get serious on a concerted approach on Film, and Media? Is it not time to capitalize on February as Black History Month, where alongside the celebration of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, Ghana’s own initiator of the “African Personality” looms large, to project a semblance of Pan-African identity for Film and Media?

Join us if you can at 2.05pm on 24 February, 2015

Call us on the following numbers

+233(0)289.000.931

Guiding questions

• How critical is government in creating a conducive environment for Africa’s creative economy of Film?
• With exception of Central Africa, each region has a hegemon/leader accruing annual film revenue…
• Is it not time for regional cooperation on film (and media)?
• Why has it taken countries so long to develop the creative economy, and have they even started?

Guests in the studio:

Ø  Elijah Iposu , former Programmes Manager, Homebase TV

Ø  J.O.T Agyeman , Communications Consultant & General Manager, Productions, Global Media Alliance Broadcasting Company 

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more details will be available soon on www.africainfocusradioshow.org ; africainfocusshow.blogspot.com. Follow the conversations on #AfricainFocus on twitter: http://www.twitter.com/africainfocus14. Tweet Emmanuel ahead of time on www.twitter.com/ekbensah, using #africainfocus .

Call Radio XYZ93.1FM on 0289.000.931 / 0289.931.000.

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