NAFTI plays a critical role in the film industry in Ghana

The government of Ghana is determined to support the creative arts industry to help modernise Ghana and create jobs. In line with this, management of NAFTI has been urged by Hon. Dr. Edward Omane Boamah to continue to position the Institute as the best higher educational institution in film, television and creative arts training in Africa, in order to enhance the quality and professional basis for the industry.

Hon. Dr. Omane Boamah, Minister of Communications, Guest of Honour at the 13th Congregation of the National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI) said this at the ceremony held on Friday, April 15, 2016.

The graduation ceremony was for twenty-three students who had satisfied the requirements for their courses of study in various specialisations in the Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree Programme offered by NAFTI. Also graduating were, 85 students who had satisfied the requirements for their courses of study in the Certificate Programme.

According to Hon. Dr. Omane Boamah, his ministry will continue to support NAFTI to ensure its significant contribution to the growth of the creative arts industry in Ghana. He said, “Indeed, it is gratifying to note the significant role graduates of NAFTI are beginning to wield in the film and television industry, by the high quality of productions that they turn out”.
On the transformation of NAFTI into a Creative Arts Institution, the Minister said, “We are working hard, together with the Ministry of Education, on the Cabinet approval to transform NAFTI and move NAFTI under the Ministry of Education, to ensure that the Institute enjoys the same attention that public tertiary institutions of higher learning enjoy in this country”.

Addressing the congregation, Prof. Linus Abraham, Rector of NAFTI, said that it has recently become fashionable to blame NAFTI for the ills of the film/video industry in Ghana. According to him, it is often asked where the NAFTI graduates are, and why they are not seen in the industry. He noted that, “In a backhanded way, this points to the importance of NAFTI as a training institution for the professional development of the media industry in the country”.

Prof. Abraham stated that in terms of the upper echelons of cinematic film making, where the Kwaw Ansahs and King Ampaws put Ghanaian film making on the global map, NAFTI is making an impact in producing the next generation of filmmakers who will build and sustain Ghana as a cinematic giant on the continent.

Prof. Abraham added that, “Two graduates of NAFTI, Ms. Shirley Frimpong-Manso and Ms. Juliet Asante, both received multiple nominations for the 2016 Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA). The AMVCA awards has become the most prestigious film awards on the African continent, beamed to about 55 million people across the continent and in the west.

Ms. Asante received three nominations for her film Silver Rain -- Best Movie (Africa), Best Costume Designer, and Best Movie (West Africa). Ms. Frimpong-Manso received two nominations for Rebecca -- Best Director and Best Picture Editor. Ms. Frimpong-Manso’s film received the award for Best Picture Editor. Ms. Frimpong-Manso’s film, Contract also garnered the most awards at the 2014 AMVCA; her film Contract received awards for Best Movie, Best Movie Director, Best Writer (Drama) and Best Video Editor.

The Rector said the current crop of NAFTI graduates are also following suit, with films such as Kalybos in China and Amakye and Dede receiving critical reviews and drawing huge crowds across the nation.

Addressing the graduands, Mr. Kwaw Ansah, CEO of TV Africa, said the graduands can make themselves important if they consider the industry they are entering as important. The role of the filmmaker is very important in recording and preserving history.

“Your classes, first class, second class, etc. will be more relevant if you help to record the history of Ghana and the African continent as a whole. Africa suffers from the lack of a record of our history, please join in the crusade for the sake of posterity”, said Mr. Ansah.

Also speaking to the graduating class, Ms. Juliet Asante, CEO of Eagle Productions said there is no point in Africans trying to tell the story of the American, because there is absolutely no way a Ghanaian can tell the story of an American better than the American.

“We have stories waiting and begging to be told. The world is hungry for your stories. Go out there and tell it. Fortunately, you have the requisite training from NAFTI to close the gaps that exist with filmmakers without training in film and television production”, Ms. Asante stated.

According to Ms. Asante, NAFTI has done well by introducing courses for persons who have the desire to enter the film industry, but do not have the required formal training. She added that it is her hope that in three or four years, the current graduands will be standing on this same platform agreeing with her and repeating all she just said because of their experiences after school.