Craze By Ghanaians For Foreign Movies; Its Impact On Movie Industry

Without a doubt Ghana's movie industry has come a long way and has improved tremendously. As far back as the days of Osofo Dadzie, Keteke, Obra, Adabraka Drama troupe to Kwaw Ansah's movies such as Harvest at 17 and Concert Party one can easily say that the movie industry has made progress although there is more room for improvement. Nevertheless, the craze by Ghanaians for foreign movies and soap operas especially those from Mexico and India is fast eroding the gains made in the industry. It is common to see people especially women passionately watching these movies. Even at work, some workers watch these movies damning the consequences. Others may leave the office and go home early just to watch these telenovelas. It is unfortunate that TV stations that are supposed to promote made in Ghana movies for Ghanaians to be interested in, are rather telecasting these telenovelas. They have also doubled the nuances in these foreign movies, by translating them into the Akan language for easy understanding. This is killing the local movie industry.

The craze for these movies has eaten so deep that it is affecting the studies of students. Students are most of the time seen discussing these movies instead of devoting their time to their books. This is because the TV stations discuss these movies and offer prizes to their viewers while failing to do same for the local movies. Recently one of the TV stations invited the cast of one of the telenovelas from India for Ghanaians to pay and see them. This is how far some TV stations have helped to collapse the country's movie industry. Although these TV stations telecast some local movies, the time and attention given to the telenovelas are not comparable to the local ones. Previously, it was the Nigerian movies that flooded the country's markets, but after a while, the two countries started sharing experiences through collaborations.

While blaming the TV stations for doing a disservice to the local movie industry, it important to encourage players in the local industry to up their game to enable them to compete favourably with their foreign counterparts. It is common knowledge that the movie industry is used for entertainment and education on a wide range of issues such as health, education, politics and personal hygiene. This therefore makes the industry vital and needs to be supported to stay alive. It is sad that as the country faces stiff competition in the movie industry, some of the players continue to release movies that are sub-standard thereby giving the foreign movies a leeway. If producers fail to give Ghanaians what they want, they will continue to watch the foreign movies. The National Film and Television Institute, NAFTI and other training schools should be supported by government to enable them churn out qualified personnel for the industry. If reports that government has started a programme to support the movie industry to enable them to improve standards are anything to go by, then there will be light at the end of the tunnel. It is the hope of all Ghanaians that the movie industry will grow rapidly to compete favourably with their foreign counterparts. The TV stations should promote the local movie industry by giving them more airtime while stakeholders in the industry organise programmes to enhance standards.

BY: ERNEST OBENG-ANIM, A JOURNALIST.

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