Ghanaian movie Director, Richmond Afrane has taken on the government over plans to build a film village for the creative art industry to boost their activities saying it is not a priority.
Richmond Afrane who is also an artiste Manager of Kumawood actress Ellen G White has said the government must build cinemas in the all regions of the country which he considers much important before it considers putting up a film village.
According to him, the major challenge in the industry currently is distribution and marketing of their products across the country and not a film village.
He further noted that, with the cinemas in the various regions, individual producers can be assured of getting their returns after production because having a good launch or premiere of a movie pays a lot to industry players.
“Where will producers premiere their movies after production? He quizzed.
“If you build a village for us to produce movies where I’m I going to show the movie to get my money back” he quizzed in an exclusive interview with MyNews.
The Director’s comment comes after the Finance minister during the presentation of the country’s budget said the government has secured a 200-acre land for a film village.
According to the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Ken Ofori Atta, the Government, in 2019, will pursue the passing of a Legislative Instrument to establish a Secretariat for the National Film Authority” and will also facilitate the construction of an ultra-modern Film Production Studio to attract the international film community.”
This is not the first time government of Ghana has promised to uplift the face of the Creative Arts industry.
In 2016, the Manama-led administration promised similar investments for the industry which never saw the light of day
This has however generated a heated argument between people and filmmakers as to whether the state is indeed going to help the movie industry this time around.
Source: MyNewsGh.com
