BY DAVID AJIBOYE

Sex is gradually becoming the bane of Ghana’s growing movie industry as it has become an impediment between young professional actresses and their career.   According to sources in the movie industry, sex has become one of major problems affecting the smooth progress of the industry as every year, more and more young actresses have to go through the sex ordeal before they can get a role to play.

Those actresses who wouldn’t engage in such an act have to abandon their acting dreams for different careers, hence the domination of the  industry by a few faces.

Some movie producers and directors, our sources disclosed, “have been exporting their bedroom amorous tricks with their wives onto the movie field by demanding sex from these potential young actresses before giving them roles to play. They always tell the girls that big stars in various movie industries around the world also had sex with their bosses before they were able to climb to where they are now.”

L-R: Jackie Appiah, Nadia Buari

The worst of it all is that, after having sex with some of the girls, the producers and directors at times renege on their promises, giving several excuses for their inability to fulfill those promises. While professionally trained actresses are often thrown out because they would not give in to the demands of their ‘bosses’, their colleagues who have not had any form of professional training are quick to surrender because they want to be seen on TV at all cost.

When contacted, Mr. Nii Odoi Mensah, President of the Ghana Actors’ Guild, confirmed the story. He said the issue had come to the Guild’s notice but it was difficult to track down the perpetrators especially as the ladies involved would not like to come out publicly to talk about it.

“In every organization, we have such few bad nuts who would engage in all kinds of activities. It is not nice and I must emphasize that, those involved should stop. A young, beautiful girl once complained to me that a producer wanted to have her in bed before he gives her a role to play but she refused and that was the end for her.”

Mr. Odoi Mensah continued that the problem was one of the contributory factors to the dominance of many school dropouts in the movie industry. “If you look at our industry now, it is full of many school dropouts because of these anomalies. When you look at Nigeria’s industry, it is full of professionals and university graduates,” he said. He therefore called on producers and directors to help bring sanity into the industry, stressing that it is not right to have sex with a lady before giving her a role in a movie, or make young actresses and actors pay for audition and location fees.

By Oliver O. Mbamara, Esq.

It was reported that Nigerian movies have been banned in Ghana. We have not been able to confirm the position with any of the authorities in Ghana. However, since there is a saying that “in every amount of rumor, there is an atom of truth,” we will leave some reminders for the attention of those who may be concerned.

In the spirit of African development, unity, and brotherhood as we so often profess under such bodies as ECOWAS, African Union, etc., we ought to realize that Governments should encourage the spread of such emerging industries as the film Industry rather than attempt to stifle them. Such a move will only come back to hurt the perpetrators sooner or later. The government agencies involved with films (movies) in African countries should also appreciate the fact that the movie industry could be such powerful instrument for economic sustenance as well as a viable means of exporting our culture to the world.

The industry must be encouraged and not discouraged. Countries should seek ways of working together and helping each other rather than seeing the growth of the film industry in another African country as a threat. Let us reiterate that we have not confirmed this news from any Ghana government official hence we cannot conclude. But assuming this is the truth, this piece must then appeal to the government of Ghana to review its position. It is not necessary for the government of Ghana to ban Nigerian movies when it has not banned movies from western countries. This raises the question; should we always strike against our kind in Africa instead of help one another.

The movie industry is one of the highest revenue earners for the United States of America. The neighboring country of Canada continues to exploit the advantages of their proximity rather than ban American films in Canada. Canada earns a lot of revenue and provides its citizens with numerous employments by encouraging American film companies to come and shoot their movies in Canada. The same applies to Mexico. That is the way it ought to be.

Ghana should seek a way of liaising with Nigeria to gain from the movie industry rather than ban such movies. One would hate to imagine what would be the case if Nigerians now go ahead and ban Kente cloth or such other promising products of Ghana origin? Moves like these could lead to very unexpected consequences. The cycle could be very counterproductive. We are supposed to have an economic union of West African states. We are supposed to have an African union. How can we profess such unions and yet go ahead to ban growing products from member-nations?

Every Government reserves the right to ban movies that they find inappropriate to the indigenous culture or society. That is the reason for censorship boards. However, to ban foreign movies simply because they pose a greater commercial challenge to the local industry is like taking the back door to escape a challenge which will be encountered again at the back-yard. It is our hope that Ghana authorities did not generally ban movies from Nigeria or any other African country simply because such industry in such other country seem to be growing faster than it is in Ghana. If they already did, one hopes that they see reason and redress the situation before the backlashes begin.