A few months ago the news that Ghana would be able to submit a movie for the 2018 Academy Awards was met with much fanfare by the movie industry as they got the chance to have their works recognized at the grandest stage of all.
However, months later and as we creep closer to the end of the year, it turns out only one movie has been submitted for consideration so far.
Many times we hear of people in the industry complaining about low patronage or that Ghanaians don’t appreciate their hard work – yet they have the chance to submit it for someone else’s appreciation yet no one is taking up the offer.
Submission coordinator Nathalie Anang said on Starr Drive Monday that they had been expecting a ‘mad rush’ of submissions after the announcement and a forum they held to educate filmmakers on the process but that is yet to happen with only one meagre movie submitted so far.
“I’m very worried I work at the submission office, I was expecting a mad rush of submission; at least hundred because we had a summit and we had a whole lot of film makers coming through and we took them through the requirements and we even had a post-production person come to explain how if your movie doesn’t meet the standard you can get help in order to submit but as it stands now we have just one person who has submitted and it’s not the best because if your movie gets selected and wins, you put Ghana out there”. she said.
The Association of Motion Picture and Sciences approved one submission for Ghana for the next Oscars but it seems Ghanaian filmakers themselves are not interested.