Kumawood, the thriving movie industry in Ghana

Kumawood is the brand for the movie industry in Ghana , just like we have Bollywood in India and Nollywood in Nigeria.

About five hours ‘drive from Accra, the capital, Ghana’s cultural heartland nurtures a burgeoning and low-cost film industry.

Kumasi, located in Ghana’s mineral-rich Ashanti region is renowned for its home video production where only a few days is enough to make a movie.

It’s particularity: the movies are done in the local language, thus the locals are able to relate more to them .

“People watch it, in the buses, everywhere, their homes, if they are showing Kumawood movies here and they are showing the English movies here, you’ll see people, more people would go and watch the Kumawood movieS than going to watch the English movies. It means we are popular” , revealed Bismark Okyere, Kumawood Filmmaker.

With the number of movies produced each week , finance should be an issue. But Portia, a kumawood actress has a different side of the story.

“We don’t get to enjoy anything like royalty. These movies are shown on TV, everywhere, nobody pays anything to anybody. I don’t know if there’s some group of people out there who are taking the royalties that we don’t know”, stressed Portia Boateng.

Four years ago, Kumawood produced up to 12 films a week with a budget of 6,200 to 10,300 euros a movie.

But the relentless power shortages drove production down to four films a week – a figure that remains exceptional compared to the months or even years it takes to make a blockbuster in Hollywood.