In a bid to breathe life into the country’s movie industry, which in her opinion is dead, Ghanaian award-winning actress and movie producer, Yvonne Nelson, is seeking signatures from well meaning Ghanaians, industry stakeholders and movie lovers to enable her petition the government to come to the aid of the struggling industry.
Speaking in an interview with Akwasi Agyekum-Gyimah and Louisa Ackah on E-BUZZ on Beach 105.5 FM in Takoradi, Ms. Nelson said the only thing keeping the industry in the balance at the moment is the passion actors and actresses have for the art.
She said, piracy, lack of unity and the showing of foreign telenovelas on Ghanaian television stations are amongst issues which have put the industry in the position it is in today.
According to Ms. Nelson, the impact of the illegal copying and reproduction of original and copyrighted movies has caused investors to shy away from the industry, and has virtually left the industry financially crippled.
“Piracy has affected us in a very negative way, because now we don’t even print out DVDs anymore, so we can’t make any money from DVDs”, she complained. She suggested stringent measures against the menace and the transforming of cultural centres around the country into cinemas as remedies.
Another factor she mentioned as a contributor to the death of the movie industry is the showing of foreign telenovelas on many Ghanaian television stations.
According to her, most television stations opt for foreign telenovelas as a cost cutting measure with disregard for patriotism and the Ghana movie industry’s survival.
“If they’ll just take their time and appreciate the local content, they’ll realize that (we) are doing something, but they’ve just totally ignored us”, Ms. Nelson lamented.
She pleaded with television stations in the country to air more local content in order to help revive the industry.
Reacting to the backlash she received after her criticism on Twitter of her fellow actors’ and actresses’ attendance of red carpet events, Ms. Nelson said she only made that comment because of her love for, and devotion to the industry.
“I was really concerned about the industry and the fact that we need to put our energies into more productive stuff…it makes sense when there’s a movie premier, (but) what’s the point…to organize a show when we only have three movies to nominate.”
The award-winning actress called on all Ghanaian movie lovers and stakeholders to support her initiative so as to rejuvenate the movie industry by signing the petition on her Instagram and Twitter pages: #yvonnenelsongh.
Ms. Nelson concluded the interview by adding her voice to the many Ghanaians who call Obrafour’s debut album – Pae Mu Ka which was released in 1999 – the best Hiplife album of all-time, by doing a ‘line’ from the album. She went on to call Obrafour a legend.
~ Godwin Kpade
