Ghanaian film maker Nana Asihene has recounted challenges he faced in producing a documentary about Ghanaian music.
In a Facebook post, Nana wrote that he had to pull the reins on a documentary he was producing about the Ghanaian music industry because some of his respondents wanted to be paid before contributing to the project.
‘We paused development on a documentary about Ghanaian Music because the music practitioners were not willing to collaborate. And others were asking for money from us, the people who were going to bring attention to them,” he wrote.
He therefore added that after starting a similar project for sports, he is encountering the same problem; a situation which might nudge him into using foreign sports personalities instead of Ghanaians.
“We have started another project that involves football and facing the same hurdles. We will finish it ( Nyame Adom) and even use another country’s football personalities. I hope not. But it may come to that,” the film maker noted.
Nana Asihene added that regardless of the challenges, one day he will tell the story of how “selfish” and “myopic” the Ghanaian is.
‘Till then, we’ll make MAGIC! inshallah. So help us God,” he concluded.
Responding to his comment, another film maker and music video director David Nicole-Dey wrote: “Bro, I tried doing the same thing a few years ago with a slew of shows and music documentaries, investing over 2 million Ghana cedis plus from my own money in the production. Given the Ghanaian/African attitude, my entire investment was wasted. So I understand your pain; we are our own downfall.”
The issue of documenting the Ghanaian story has been of great concern to a lot of people especially those in the cultural and creative industries. Most people believe that the industry lacks documentaries that paint a true picture of its activities.
For most writers and storytellers, challenges such as Asihene and David’s, coupled with lack of funding, are the reasons most Ghanaians shy away from productsducing documentaries.
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