African Fixer

Filming in Ghana: The Resurrection Of Ghallywood

May 31, 2024

Ghallywood can be considered the ‘grand-daddy’ of Filming In Africa, with a history reaching all the way back to the cinema of Ghana established by the British Gold Coast Colony in the 1920s. This type of cinema was branded Black Star Films and was widely distributed to all corners of The Gold Coast Colony. However, only the affluent were able to enjoy the development of this type of cinema, dominated by colonial influences.

In 1948, the Gold Coast Film Unit began, eventually leading to the present-day Ghana film industry. After independence in 1957, the Ghanaian government invested further in the industry, adding to the already existing infrastructures with production, editing, and distribution facilities. In the 1980s, Ghanaians began exploring ways, using video technology, to distribute films made in Ghana to a wider audience.

From the Gold Coast to Black Star

By the late 1980s, the trends spreading popular culture around the world created a steady demand and supply of Black Star Films distributed as home videos. However, the industry, which suffered a major decline from 1966 onwards due to the lack of state funding after Ghanaian Independence and pirated/copy videos preventing film producers from growing their revenue, struggled to regain its footing.

The Rebirth of Ghallywood

It was not until 2015 that Ghanaian production companies recognized the need to resurrect Ghallywood in response to the high demand for streaming content amongst Africans in the diaspora. The once-sophisticated infrastructure to revive the film industry was still intact, but filmmakers and production companies needed to inject considerable resources into developing good quality streaming content.

The National Film Authority (NFA) in Ghana has come to the party by providing the ‘ecosystem’ and structures required for production companies and African Fixers to promote high-quality content created for a global market. However, Ghanaian filmmakers feel that there are still not enough local distribution platforms for Ghanaian content producers to have the desired impact globally.

Streaming African Content

Netflix has demonstrated its commitment to investing in filming and content production driven by African content producers; however, this commitment has to match reliable, secure investments likely to grow. The industry giant therefore favors countries like South Africa and Ghana that are politically stable, with well-developed infrastructure and a local pool of talent and skills to partner with.

In order to resurrect Ghallywood, A-List Actors such as Idris Elba, Nadia Buari, and Juliet Ibrahim are modeling productions geared for international streaming platforms in the Nigerian film industry. These local celebrities are well positioned to resurrect Ghallywood because they understand that Africans in the diaspora want content that establishes a deeper connection to African culture than content produced by other nations. They also understand the business side of the industry well.

At the 2019 Africa Choice Awards, actress Nadia Buari was given the title ‘African Screen Goddess Of The Decade’ in recognition of the success of her “Celebrity Cooking Competition” Reality Television Show, co-produced with the South-African-based Evod Platform. When interviewed about the secret to her success, she created a buzz on social media by declaring 2020 ‘The Year Of No More Free Things’. She explained that the only way for local film and television industries to grow and thrive is for celebrities to turn down requests for free appearances in exchange for publicity and exposure.

With the long and tumultuous history of Ghanaian film production, it is evident that Ghana is once again well positioned to re-establish its position as a leader in the African film industry. With its strong infrastructure and support from the international film-making industry from actors to distributors, it is a choice location for film production.

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