Veteran actor and television personality David Dontoh says indigenous Ghanaian movies have not projected the country’s cultural traits enough.
According to him, just a handful of local movies project the Ghanaian culture whilst others have taken up to other cultures he calls the popular culture.
Stressing on the definition of culture, he cited a few instances where some local movies have not portrayed in depth Ghanaian culture.
“They say culture is our way of life but if it is our way of life, what do we see in our day to day life, do you go to bed in makeup,
“These are things we must capture in our films to let people determine whether it is from Ghana, Nigeria and India, you must let the world know about who you are otherwise what story are you telling.
“You are communicating to the world about who you are and if the communication falls short then you are not communicating who you really are,” he told Andy Dosty, host of ‘DayBreak Hitz’ on Hitz FM today.
The ‘Kofi Abrantie’ star recalled an experience he had in New York during a film festival where the originality of a movie he starred in was questioned.
“I was called up front after the screening. Someone asked what was Ghanaian about the film because there was no sense of identity and I had to dodge the question by telling them we were just demonstrating drama but not necessarily Ghanaian culture,” he narrated.
David Dontoh, basing on his experience in New York, stated a few steps he has taken towards ensuring the propagation of the Ghanaian culture.
“A lot of producers will tell you that I am always making sure that there are certain elements in the story that will reflect me as a Ghanaian.
“So most of the time what I do is to make sure my costume, except for some particular reason should be Ghanaian, I want to wear something Ghanaian so everybody will know who I am,” he stated.
He further stressed that some other traits which included the languages spoken in our movies and food eaten.
“Language, food and fashion all matters, you will watch a lot of films in Ghana and what do they eat, Fried Rice, whiles we have Ampesi, Fufu and other local foods.”
David Dontoh However, advised that Ghanaian movies should be made to propagate the Ghanaian culture as he feels it may be dissolved by the fast rising rate of influx of foreign productions
Source: Kumah Prince Michael
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