Film Association expresses concern over influx of films

The Film Producers Association of Ghana on Thursday registered its protest against the influx of foreign films that sought to glorify violence, sex and indiscipline.

Speaking at a press conference in Accra, Mr. Mohammed Gado, President of the Association said rejected and unfit movies banned in some neighbouring countries were being smuggled into the country and sold openly on the market and being screened on the nation's Television networks.

"Occasionally, films that have been rejected by the Nigerian Censorship Board are smuggled into Ghana for sale or distribution at uncompetitive prices that are relative to that of the Ghanaian film," he pointed out.

Mr. Gado said the influx, especially of Nigerian films, was impacting negatively on film producers and the development of a thriving film industry in Ghana, adding that the country stood the risk of losing its cultural identity if the trend was allowed to continue unchecked.

According to him, while Ghanaian films were prevented from accessing the Nigerian market through bureaucratic processes, Ghana on the other hand had opened its market readily to any production.

Mr Gado said some Nigerian films, which were being sold on the Ghanaian market were not vetted by the Ghana Censorship Board to ensure that they were good for public consumption. He therefore, called on the government to come out with a film policy and a regulatory mechanism to streamline the operations of the film industry.

He stressed that the "association is not condemning all Nigerian films and we are not saying that all Nigerian films tend to focus on violence or sex related activities. "We have seen some Nigerian films that are very good, decent with a great deal of educational and entertainment value in them."

Giving an overview of films produced in the last five months of this year, Mr. Gado said out of a total production of 132 Ghanaian and Nigerian films, Nigeria alone accounted for 108 films while Ghana had only 24 films.

He said if the dumping of foreign films continued, Ghanaian producers would soon "become endangered spices in the very near future. "Mr Gado said the film industry was suffocating with a lot of problem and urged the government to assist the industry to play an active role in its promised golden age of business.