Ace Ghanaian actor Mr. David Dontoh has whined scornfully at Kumawood
movies –“they are destroying our movie industry and the Akan culture.”
Flex
newspaper excerpted a recorded tape of an interview actor David Dontoh
granted to Accra based radio station Prime 89.1 fm which is actually
about Mr. Dontoh’s take on the Kumawood movie industry. Mr. Dontoh’s
voice can be heard audibly remonstrating Kumawood films – movies
produced in the Akan language or film makers in Kumasi (Ashanti region
of
Ghana). It was as though he was in a trance.
Though many movie
critics believe Kumawood movies portray and sell our true Ghanaian
culture than the English ones, Mr. Dontoh begs to differ. He harangued
in the tape(unedited): “what they are rather doing is what….they are not
destroying the film industry but destroying Ghanaian culture!
Destroying the values of Akan culture in their films!
Yeah
its….the way you shoot the films….you don’t…you don’t…. portray or
interpret or tell the Akan culture the way it must be told using proper
universal film language, you understand? Agya Koo comes and stands
there, I am not picking on him as an actor, he is an actor and aa…he may
not know the implications of what he does, but Agya Koo comes to stand
and for 5 minutes he alone stands on the screen talking and keeps pacing
back and forth and talking and the camera is on him.
All that you
are telling whoever is not a Ghanaian is that, these people…. are they
that erratic? Are they….don’t they have what we call sense to talk
something sensible to people! Is that how every Ghanaian behaves? In
fact, a lot of people outside think that every Ghanaian is a comedian
because that is what they have labelled our films, a comedian!
Why
is it that the whole world everybody thinks that Americans are very
powerful, disciplined and authoritative human beings? It’s because of
what they’ve seen Americans doing in films! You don’t see an American
and think that he is poor because they don’t tell you that they are
poor! What you tell them is the ideas they make about you, you
understand?
And so we….that is why I am saying that the Akan culture or the
Ghanaian culture, traditions, customs, whatever, we have to advertise
our culture and portray it well to those outside Ghana so that they can
say that for instance if you go to Ghana you can’t just pick a lady and
marry her. In as much as you are telling a story, don’t forget there is
always two sides of the coin.
There is always day and night, you
understand? So if you are shooting a movie and wants to show the bad
side of the person, compare it to the good side of the society, so that
the person watching will now be able to make sensible logic of what you
are doing by weighing the two sides.
But you don’t show only the
bad side and make it look like that is how everybody or everything is,
no! That is wrong. That is why I am saying that the Kumawood films, most
of them are rather destroying not the film industry, but the Akan
culture, the Ghanaian culture and then all those things!” Touching on
the crew behind Kumawood movies, Mr. Dontoh thinks Kumawood film makers
don’t use professionals.
“And then…unfortunately, they are not
using the right people who know how to make the film well in making
those films. That is why in as much as they are destroying our culture,
they are also destroying the industry because they are not using the
universal film language in making the films.” Mr. David Dontoh heaved a
deep sigh of relief as he brought his submission to an end.
Just 3
weeks ago, Ghana’s promising actor Ekow Smith Asante also said similar
things Mr. David Dontoh has said in the voice recording Flex newspaper
have in our possession. Ekow said the Kumawood movie makers ignore
everything that makes a good movie and only pay attention to the story
lines based on themes like witchcraft and others, which people in
Asankragua, Sefwi Wiaso, Yaw Wiaso and the rest love.
Smith-Asante’s
comments, made on Joy FM’s Rhythms A2Z, were originally targeted at the
producers of the Kumawood movies; whom he said were only passionate
about making money and not developing the creative arts. He definitely
bit more than he could chew when he said the target market for those
inferior movies are people who do not know jack about lighting, sound,
good acting and other things and are also not ready to learn.
The
nagging questions that are begging for answers are; why is the Accra or
English oriented actors not criticising their movies too? Is it that
they don’t see anything wrong with the English movies? Is it that they
are afraid of criticising their own? Can’t they see their movie industry
is dying at a speedy rate? Is it that the Accra based actors don’t
respect actors in Kumawood?
Are they trying to sabotage or
blackmail the Kumawood industry? Well, whatever the reason may be, we
live in a democratic dispensation, hence, we should agree to disagree
without greed to grow Ghana’s movie industry. Until then….MOTWUM!!
