What accounts for the silence and black-out on the coun-try’s major film and theatre artists?

Why is there not a single film in the last five years or so that this country can boast of; the type of film that creates serpentine queues at cinema halls and runs several times a night for God knows how long?

Here is one concerned artist’s diagnosis and lament:

"People aren’t staging plays, at least, not the major types. The culture of going to the theatre is dying. And we don’t have the infrastructure either. Films? Producers don’t break even because of the influx of Nigerian films. The theatres are not functioning because people prefer to sit at home and watch from CDs."

That’s Akofa Adjeani. No need for introductions: who doesn’t know Akofa.

On theatre, Akofa laments that there is no capital – no money for productions because those want to dare aren’t sure they’d even break even." The Spectator asked her why. "I said it: the culture of going to the theatre is dying. But we shouldn’t allow it to die; at least, those of us trained in theatre should get up and do something."

How do we ensure that theatre productions pay? Her solution is "District Theatres. We have sent a paper on this to the authorities to consider, at least, one multi-purpose hall in every district for use for film exhibition and for theatre productions. We need the government to create that enabling environment for the private sector to move in to support with things like electricity generators etc."

In the mean time, what? This question elicited a promise. Hear Akofa Adjeani: "I have plans of going back to stage-plays next year, now that my kids are older. Talking about kids, Akofa has, by the last count, two, and she has no plans for even one more! When she does come back to stage-plays, she has a mind to be both investor and artist.

But what frustrates Akofa to the point of "madness" is the goings on in the film industry. She acknowledges the positive contribution of Revelle Productions, producers of ‘Home Sweet Home’ and Venus Productions (‘My Mother’s Daughter’ and ‘Beyonce’)

"The rest are…(the word did not come out). At best they border on comedy or concert. Of course, comedy has its place and it has its own audience. But these films can’t show anywhere beyond Ghana. Because the concert party-film audience happens to be the biggest (as is the case everywhere in the Third World), and because, therefore, the producers make their money, they churn out the same sub-standard quality every time.

"These producers know next to nothing about filmmaking. As you know, they were marketers who saw money in film and overnight transformed themselves into producers. Nor are they willing or ready to learn. Films are shot without scripts. They shoot a whole film in one week! Can you imagine!"

Akofa further reveals: "I have had to refuse some scripts because they are not the kind of thing my fans want to see me in – not up to my standard. And this country should have standards, for heaven’s sake! Besides my concern with standards, I also see myself as an actor/priest, so I’m careful which films to act in. I must like the story – the moral.

"That, coupled with my insistence on standards, is why they call me book-long. But I’m not going to allow anybody to drag me down with names. This is my profession. I’m not in it for cheap popularity. I am an artist, and film making, for me, is art."

Why don’t some of the so-called professionals get involved to change things?

Akofa looked at this interviewer like a piece from the museum. "They hate anyone who goes and starts suggesting improvements. Their films are without scripts. When they see that the on-thing is ghosts, everybody pumps money into ghost films etc. There are times when I think that we have contributed to making the Nigerians take over the market."

What is the solution? "A Film Policy", she recommends. "There was talk about a policy paper having been submitted to Parliament or some other body. That’s years ago. Nothing doing. We were expecting that out of the policy will emerge the long awaited Film Fund that has been advocated for and that has been promised by governments in Ghana since General Acheampong’s era. Nothing doing.