Baby Nayoka's Transformation

Ghanaian film maker Harry Laud will soon release a new film titled "Babynayoka" throughout the country.

Set in Accra, the film, which is full of suspense and comedy, tackles the issue of greed and depicts how far people can go to cheat and wrongfully rid people of their hard earned money.

Babynayoka parades a number of Ghanaian film stars including the eclectic Emmanuel Armah (George Boafo), witty Selassie Ibrahim (Elsie) and playful Lydia Pascal (Finba) among others.

It shows a desperate Harry Laud (Babynayoka) transforming himself into a woman in order to entice a freshly divorced politician George Boafo, who is critically looking for a woman to marry. This follows his wife's inability to bear children.

It reveals the rather difficult situation Ghanaian women find themselves in when they cannot have children after years of marriage. They undergo humiliation, abuse, disrespect - and even lose their honour and dignity for a problem which is completely out of their power to solve.

Viewers are assured of fun as Harry Laud, fully clad in female clothes and wearing thick makeup undergoes training on how to behave like a women. He encounters a great deal of problems as his trainer looses patience for his slow progress.

Directed by Harry Laud, the shooting style employed in "Babynayoka" is quite simple while the camera work is straightforward. This enables viewers to have their own dialogue and interpretation of the pictures as one suspense scene follows the other.

Lighting and set design are brilliant and add to the beauty of the story. They confront viewers with diverse possibilities as they anticipate what happens next. Indeed, messages of love, tradition, relationships, courting and deceit flow through like a bird in flight while subtle music emerge intermittently.

Harry Laud, who used to be a disc jockey and musician, has made notable contributions to the development of the film industry in Ghana. He has worked in various roles as an actor, writer, editor, director and producer.

Ever since his first film was released in 1989, he has produced more than forty films including the popular Marijata Series, Dadaba, Coming from America, Yaa Asantewaa and Who Killed Okomfo Anokye.