Cinema of Ghana

Early modern filmaking was first introduced to what is now Ghana by the British in the colonial period.^[1][2][3] Since the 1950s, Ghana has had a thriving film industry.^[4][5][6][7] Cinemas used to the main entertainment but have declined due to home video.^{[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]}

Popular genres

Films decpicting African witchcraft are very popular.^{[16][17][18][19]} These type of movies have been criticized.^[20][21] Movie in Twi are called Kumawood.^[22][23][24] The other type of movie is called Ghallywood.^{[25][25][26][27]}

Ghaninan actors abroad

This development sparked media attention; mostly concerns that Ghanaians were taking over jobs meant for Nigerians.^[28] While some industry stakeholders such as Bob Manuel were unwelcoming towards the development, others like Mercy Aigbe, Belinda Effah, and Yvonne Jegede saw it as a welcome development; noting that the industry is big enough for everyone, and that other major film hubs across the world also have presence of other Nationalities. Theresa Edem commented: "A united Africa sells any day, anytime. It's been a great partnership so far. They’ve added colour to Nollywood and they’ve brought about healthy competition.^[28] Emem Isong, a Nigerian producer comments: "It fosters unity and integration and that's not a bad thing".^[29]

Some Ghanaian media on the other hand described the trend as "Brain drain" from Ghana.^[30] However, Ghanaian director Frank Fiifi Gharbin, expressed satisfaction with the development, saying: "there shouldn’t be much fuss about Ghanaian actors in Nollywood. For us it is a good development. It shows that our actors are beginning to gain prominence and are being accepted worldwide".^[29]

Bibliography

• Allen, Robert C. 1995 Introduction. In: R.C. Allen (ed.) To be Continued…. Soap Operas Around the World. London: Routledge. pp. 1–26.
• Brantlinger, Patrick. 1988. Rule of Darkness. British Literature and Imperialism, 1830-1914. Ithaca and London: Cornell University
• Diawara, Manthia. 1992. African Cinema. Politics & Culture. Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
• Geschiere, Peter. 1997. The Modernity of Witchcraft. Politics and the Occult in Postcolonial Africa. Charlottesville and London: University Press of Virginia
• Gifford, Paul. 1994. "Ghana's Charismatic Churches". Journal of Religion in Africa 64 (3): 241-65

_____________ 1998 African Christianity. Its Public Role. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indianan University Press

• Gunning, Tom. 1989. "An Aesthetic of Astonishment". Art & Text 34 (Spring):*
• Kramer, Fritz. 1987. Der rote Fes. †ber Besessenheit und Kunst in Afrika. Frankfurt am Main: AthenŠum.
• Landau, Paul. 1994. "The Illumination of Christ in the Kalahari Desert". Representations 45 (Winter): 26-40.
• McLuhan, Marshall. 1995[1964] Understanding Media. The Extensions of Man. London: Routledge.
• McQuire, Scott. 1998. Visions of Modernity. Representation, Memory, Time and Space in the Age of the Camera. London: Sage.
• Mensah, G.B. 1989. "The Film Industry in Ghana — Development, Potentials and Constraints". University of Ghana, Legon: Unpublished Thesis.
• Meyer, Birgit. 1995. "Delivered from the Powers of Darkness. Confessions about Satanic Riches in Christian Ghana". Africa Vol. 65 (2): 263—55.

_____________ "Make a complete break with the past. Memory and Post—colonial Modernity in Ghanaian Pentecostalist discourse". Journal of Religion in Africa XXVII (3):316-349. _____________ 1999a. Translating the Devil. Religion and Modernity Among the Ewe in Ghana. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. _____________ 1999b. "Popular Ghanaian Cinema and the African Heritage". Working Paper 7. The Hague: WOTRO-Project "Globalization and the Construction of Communal Identitie".

• Middleton—Mends, Kofi. 1995. "Video-Production — Which Direction?" Unpublished Paper.
• Moore, Rachel. n.d. "Savage Theory. Cinema as Modern Magic". Manuscript.
• Morton—Williams. 1953. Cinema in Rural Nigeria. A Field Study of the Impact of Fundamental-Education Films on Rural Audiences in Nigeria. West African Institute of Social and Economic Research, University College, Ibadan.
• Neal, James H. 1966. Ju—ju in My Life. London: George G. Harap.
• Pels, Peter. 1999. A Politics of Presence. Contacts Between Missionaries and Waluguru in Late Colonial Tanganyika. Chur: Harwood Academic Publishers.
• Powdermaker, Hortense. 1950. Hollywood. The Dream Factory. USA: The Universal Library, Little Brown, and Company
• Sakyi, Kwamina. 1996. "The Problems and Achievements of the Ghana Film Industry Corporation and the Growth and Development of the Film Industry in Ghana". University of Ghana, Legon: Unpublished Thesis.
• Sreberny—Mohammadi, Annabelle and Ali Mohammadi. 1994. Small Media, Big Revolution. Communication, Culture, and the Iranian Revolution. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
• Starker, Steven. 1989. Evil Influences. Crusades Against the Mass Media. New Brunswick & London: Transaction Publishers.
• Tyler, Parker. 1971[1947] Magic and Myth of the Movies. London: Secker & Warburg.
• Ukadike, Nwachukwu Frank. 1994. Black African Cinema. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press.
• Van der Geest, Sjaak. n.d. "Ybisa Wo Fie: Building a House in Akan Culture". Unpublished Paper.
• Verrips, Jojada. in press. "The State and the Empire of Evil" in J. Mitchell & P. Clough (eds.), Powers of Good and Evil. Oxford: Berghahn Books.

References