I Support Vollywood & Tallywood & If You Don’t, Then You Are the One Championing Tribalism

Hello Chris-Vincent,

I was excited to read on your blog yesterday that the people of the Volta Region and its environs as well as Tamale and the surrounding places have all decided to get into film making, calling their respective industries-Vollywood and Tallywood.

Surprisingly, the article which unveiled the above development ended with a question on whether these progressive enterprises are of tribal nature—forgetting that, these film makers and stars of Volta and Northern backgrounds have no place in Kumawood except the dying Ghollywood.

Have any of you seen Akorfa Ejeani Asiedu, Vicky Zugah and the other actors from the Volta ever being used in a Kumawood movies before? Kumawood exists and operate on tribal lines, where the movie stars are only of Ashanti or better still Akan heritage.

What do you want the other actors and film makers from the other places of Ghana to do? Sit down and become jobless?

We all know the future of the English speaking Ghanaian Movie Industry is pretty hazy and to think of the fact that some of these Voltarians and Northern background actors and film-makers can’t speak good Twi, how are they supposed to get a job and make a living in Kumawood?

READ ALSO: Aside Kumawood, There is Vollywood and Tallywood – Is Ghana’s Movie Industry Turning into Tribal Play?

Is it not wise for them to also start something in their own native language—if not for anything at all, to sustain their families and career?

Instead of people supporting these initiatives, they are rather calling it tribalism, forgetting that Kumawood is the biggest tribal industry out there. If you are making movies in your local language and using actors mainly of a particular tribe, what does that make you?

People from the North and Volta have every right to start their own industries too just like the people of Ashanti did. What is wrong with some of you? You support Kumawood but want to call Vollywood and Tallywood all kind of names?

I hope some of you begin to realize that, if Kumawood has the right to exist, so does Vollywood and Tallywood—the early you see the sense in their direction, the better. No one wants to remain jobless and as long as movies are being done in native languages, these divisions will keep coming up.

If Kumawood has been accepted and being enjoyed by all of you who can speak and understand Twi, what about people like me who can’t speak or understand Twi , except Ewe and English? The English language industry is literally dead, so you mean I should be left with no form of entertainment?

From L. Tamakloe /New Jersey

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