A documentary screening on the College of Media Arts and Communication Institute of Movie and Tv (UniMAC-IFT) reignited nationwide reflection on how Ghana preserves its historical past, tells its tales and prepares a brand new era of filmmakers to take over its duties.
On Friday, April 17, 2026, UniMAC-IFT’s Faculty of Digital Media Design organized a screening of The Eyes of Ghana, a feature-length documentary directed by Oscar-winning Canadian filmmaker, two-time Academy Award winner, and founding father of Breakwater Studios, recognized for telling highly effective human-centered tales.
The movie facilities on the life and work of Pastor Chris Hesse, a 93-year-old Ghanaian cinematographer and archivist who’s extensively thought to be one of the vital essential visible recorders of Ghana’s independence period. He was the private cameraman for Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president, and his archival footage is among the most essential extant visible data of Ghana’s early post-independence historical past and African liberation struggles.
The movie, government produced by Barack and Michelle Obama, follows Hesse’s extraordinary efforts to protect greater than 1,300 reels of archival footage documenting Ghana’s independence period and broader African liberation actions. These supplies survived political makes an attempt to erase them after the 1966 coup that overthrew Nkrumah, forming an essential visible report of a decisive interval in Ghanaian and African historical past.
In a question-and-answer session after the screening, Proudfoot defined how the venture started with a second of unfamiliarity and shortly became a deeper exploration. “I used to be driving by the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum and I noticed the constructing and the statue of Nkrumah pointing at me and I casually requested, ‘Who’s that?'” he stated. “And everybody within the automotive was taking a look at me like I used to be loopy. I could not consider I hadn’t realized it. It was like a world-important story.”
That encounter led him to Hesse. His private archives remained largely unseen for many years. Proudfoot famous that the preliminary intentions have been modest. “I believed it was going to be a brief documentary about Pastor Hesse,” he stated. “But it surely developed and expanded over the subsequent few years. At first, we did not know what we have been going to do.”
The screening and subsequent Q&A introduced collectively a various group of individuals from Ghana’s educational and artistic communities, reflecting the burden of the story being advised. The occasion was additionally attended by UniMAC Vice-Chancellor, Professor Eric Opoku Mensah. Dr. Obaapanin Adu Oforiwaa, Registrar of UniMAC; Professor Samuel Menasar Ilenki, Director of the Movie and Tv Institute, in addition to lecturers and school members have been additionally current. Mr. George Bosongpim, who served because the host, additionally attended. Dr. Jim Farah Panbonor Awindolu, Chairman, Ghana Academy of Movie and Tv Arts; Mariam Buahin of Akuna Group. Nana Adwoa Awindor is a veteran Ghanaian tv presenter, filmmaker, and conventional chief.
The gathering was anchored by Dr. Rebecca Ohene Asa, a famend media educator and filmmaker, and Head of the Division of Digital Media and Design at UniMAC-IFT. Her management in convening this occasion was excellent and mirrored the school’s rising affect in shaping conversations about movie, historical past, and nationwide id. The screening introduced collectively college students, alumni, lecturers, filmmakers and movie fans, united by a shared curiosity in storytelling and Ghana’s historic reminiscence.
In his welcome handle, Professor Samuel Menasah Irenkyi highlighted the involvement of UniMAC-IFT alumni within the manufacturing of this documentary, particularly Mr. Anita Afonu, who performed the twin position of participant and producer of the movie, and Mr. Yaw Amponsah, who labored as co-producer. “We’re happy with them,” he stated. “Their involvement is a testomony to the standard of coaching at IFT and the continued excellence of our graduates.”
Past institutional delight, the occasion developed right into a broader dialog about authorship, preservation, and possession of Ghana’s historic narratives. Proudfoot was clear concerning the perspective that formed this movie. “All the things we’re studying, we’re studying by Pastor Hesse,” he stated. “He’s the one who tells this story. It’s by him that we enter Nkrumah’s life.”
For a lot of individuals, that perspective raised deeper questions on how historical past is constructed and who tells it. This documentary doesn’t try to current a definitive account of Nkrumah’s legacy, however fairly situates it throughout the lived experiences of the filmmakers who witnessed it firsthand. Though this method is intimate, it invitations vital engagement from the viewer.
Dialogue additionally prolonged to the present state of archive preservation in Ghana. In response to a query, Mr Proudfoot cautioned that this problem was not distinctive to Ghana. “This isn’t only a Ghanaian downside,” he says. “It is a query everywhere in the world: Are individuals taking note of preserving the movies, pictures and paperwork of the previous? Except we have now the sources to make it a precedence, they get sidelined.”
His feedback mirror long-standing considerations in Ghana’s cultural and educational sectors concerning the preservation of historic data. Hesse himself, as seen within the documentary and spoken in the course of the debate, has spent many years advocating for the digitization of those heritage movies, stressing the urgency of preserving supplies liable to deterioration and loss.
The Q&A session additional highlighted the generational shift in serious about the Ghanaian movie trade. College students and younger filmmakers used this chance to query not solely the previous but additionally the way forward for cinema on this nation. Points such because the decline of movie tradition, restricted infrastructure, and the necessity for sustained funding have been raised, and calls have been made for higher cooperation and innovation.
Proudfoot spoke on to the scholars, framing the documentary as each a historic report and a name to motion. “The objective is that nobody will ever drive previous a statue of Kwame Nkrumah and say, ‘Who’s that?'” he stated. He added that the movie additionally goals to “encourage and empower the subsequent era of filmmakers in Ghana and world wide.”
That message resonated strongly with audiences, particularly given the setting. Proudfoot acknowledged the significance of UniMAC-IFT as a coaching floor for future filmmakers. “It is a very particular place,” he stated. “I have been to many movie faculties world wide, however it is a place I am happy with.”
Occasions like this spotlight each the alternatives and challenges going through the trade as Ghana continues to determine itself as Africa’s cultural and artistic hub. Preservation of historic archives, improvement of native expertise, and world recognition of Ghana’s tales stay on the heart of that dialog.
In linking historical past, movie and training, the screening of Eyes of Ghana is greater than only a documentary. A nationwide dialogue concerning the position of reminiscence, id and storytelling in shaping how Ghana understands its previous and imagines its future has resumed.
