“We can’t afford to produce historical films” – Shirley Frimpong Manso calls on government to support filmmakers

Award-winning filmmaker and writer Shirley Frimpong Manso appealed to the government to help filmmakers produce films related to development and history. The call followed the recent debate sparked by Gabby Otchere Darko, who claimed that Ghanaian filmmakers do not produce development-related films.

Speaking to Naa Ashorkor on Showbiz Atos, Shirley lamented the lack of funds for individual filmmakers in the production of these development-related films.

“We don’t have the means to produce these kinds of stories. … We can write, but we cannot finance… ”, she declared.

Shirley further explained some of the costs involved in producing such films. According to her, building sets and research costs a lot of money that filmmakers cannot afford.

“We have to build sets. You can’t film in Osu like you can describe a 1957 story. Research alone costs a lot of money, ”she added.

Shirley Frimpong Manso called on the government to give tax incentives to filmmakers.

“Filmmakers have no incentives. South Africa, for example, gives tax breaks ”.

“If we want to put in place a national program, we have to look at it from a different angle. … The government must align itself with creative artists, ”she added.

All this week, there has been a lot of debate among creative arts circles, especially with the film industry. This debate was sparked by a Facebook post by a state official, Gabby Otchere-Darko, where he expressed his disappointment with the film industry for not producing development films.

See the Facebook post below;