KUMAWOOD ACTORS DISQUALIFIED FROM CANNES FILM FESTIVAL

The full list of Ghanaian movie stars, who are going for this year’s 67th Cannes film festival in France, has reached GhanaCelebrities.Com; unfortunately, none of our Kumawood actors found their way into the list.

Organizers of Ghana Movie Awards GMA promised the media in 2011 that they had a memorandum of understanding with the organizers of the deluxe internationally acclaimed Cannes film festival in France; so annually, they shall take some winners of the award scheme to the said film festival.

In the year 2012, organizers of the award scheme issued a press release headlined: “Final List of Ghanaian Movie Stars Going to Cannes Film Festival This Year.” The list revealed the list of actors and actress the organizers had shortlisted to attend the 65th festival de Cannes. They were eleven in number.

The names were: Nadia Buari, Jackie Appiah, Van Vicker, Majid Michel, Yvonne Nelson, Yvonne Okoro, John Dumelo, Chris Attoh, Juliet Ibrahim, Prince David Osei and Martha Ankomah. Riffing through the list carefully, one would note that none of our Kumawood or Twi-oriented movie actors/actress is/are in the list.

On the entertainment journalists’ side were: Osarfo Anthony – Flex newspaper, Attractive Mustapha Ayinde – Flex newspaper/Ghanamovie.net, Ameyaw Debrah – Ameyawdebrah.com, Chris Vincent Agyapong Febiri – GhanaCelebrities.Com, and Eugene Osafo Nkansah – Peace fm.

I – Osarfo Anthony ( now with GhanaCelebrities.Com), managed to get accreditation from the organizers of Cannes film festival in 2012, but, Ghana Movie Award organizers could not secure my visa date earlier so the Embassy refused me visa; hence, my inability to attend the film festival.

A reliable source close to the organizers of GMA, forwarded to GhanaCelebrities.Com, the full list of Ghanaian movie actors who have been approved by the organizers of Cannes film festival to attend this year’s 67th edition starting from May 14 to 25, 2014. Below is the list:

Jackie Appiah: 12F540GC97, Yvonne Nelson: 11T56NM640, Juliet Ibrahim: 14L481WL422, Nadia Buari: 11Q935NW366, Yvonne Okoro: 11R333NA508, Chris Attoh: 12K431NG460, Fred Nuamah: 11V954MM836, John Dumelo: 11X886KL265, Van Vicker: 12L792NN521, Majid Michel: 11O213ND254, Prince David Osei: 12M491NK640

According to our source, the organizers of GMA actually sent 40 names (including some Kumawood actors) to the organizers of Cannes film festival but the latter approved only the 11 stars above.

Again,riffing through the list carefully, one would note that none of our Kumawood or Twi-oriented movie actors/actress is/are in the list. WhenGhanaCelebrities.Comcontacted Fred Nuamah, he refused to comment on the issue.

However, in 2012 when the organizers of GMA failed to take any Kumawood actor to the Cannes, the main reason Fred Nuamah gave on Peace fm’s ‘Entertainment Review’ was that, majority of the Kumawood stars don’t have website or online presence – Wikipedia, Google, LinkedIn, Instagram, Tweeter, Facebook, WiseGeek, etc. hence, their disqualification by the organizers of the film festival.

In a separate interview with Kumawood actor Kwaku Nkansah aka Lil Win who won – Best Supporting Actor, some weeks back, he told GhanaCelebrities.Com that he has not heard anything from the organizers of GMA concerning the trip to this year’s Cannes.

He explained further that, the organizers have not called for his passports to secure any visa for him for the film festival.
GhanaCelebrities.Com is still following up on this story to fish out which entertainment journalists Fred Nuamah and his team shall be taking to this year’s Cannes film festival. Keep your fingers crossed.