GTA holds return conversation as part of PANAFEST, Emancipation celebrations

By Hafsa Obeng

Accra, July 26, GNA – The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture has organized the ‘Return Conversation’, as part of activities lined up for this year’s PANAFEST/ Emancipation Day celebrations in Accra.

The event, which was also in collaboration with the ‘Beyond the Return’ Secretariat and the National Film Authority was aimed at bringing Africans on the continent and those in the diaspora together to interact and bridge the gap in the industry.

It is also to find ways to work together towards a common goal of building stronger connections in business, film, music, and entertainment.

The theme for the conversation was “The role of film and music in uniting the global African family.”

Mr Akwasi Agyeman, Chief Executive Officer, GTA, said the theme for the conversation was apt as it addressed the need to change the narrative of Africa in the global space.

“We came up with the idea of the return conversations to delve into the ways in which film and music play a pivotal role in unifying Global Africans and fostering mutual growth and prosperity,” he added.

He said most often the narrative of Africa on the western media, was not pleasant, and changing that story required a concerted effort from all, Africans on the continent and those on the other side of the Atlantic to come together to create a new narrative.

“So, we come together today with a shared purpose to celebrate our rich heritage, connect our souls, and unite. In a world that often divides us, with language, and cultures what we are trying to do today is to ensure that as our diaspora family come, we would try and bridge the gap with these kinds of conversations, making sure that industry players meet to share experiences, learn from each other, and more importantly work together to create a new narrative for Africa.”

Mr Agyemang said Emancipation marked the abolition of slave trade in the British colonies, and Ghana being the first African country to celebrate started the celebration to show that Ghanaians were emancipated, but a lot more work still needed to be done in terms of freeing our mental captivities.

Mrs Juliet Asante, Chief Executive Officer, National Film Authority, said the focus of the conversation on film and music was appropriate because film was one of the ways that countries had used severally to showcase themselves, tell their own messages and improve tourism numbers.

She said, “as Ghana positions itself to call on the world to come and visit, we are also saying don’t just visit ghana, but shoot in Ghana because when you shoot here, and the world sees it then the world would want to visit Ghana.”

She said the country was working hard through the Tourism Ministry to help position Ghana favourably to get the right visits and shoots, which would create the jobs and attract the kinds of money the country needed.

“Looking at Emancipation and the end of slavery we realize that even though slavery is over it continues because the masters are still the ones creating content for us to consume, then they have a way of programming us the way they want.”

Mrs Asante said the proxy of slavery was still here, so in trying to change the narrative, make progress and re-establish who we are as Africans, it was important to look at what controlled the minds of human: which was film.

She noted that the first collaborative point for all Africans around the world to change the African narrative was to be in control of our content.

“In less than 20 years, Africa would have more than 40 percent of the global youth population, and yet we do not have control of what to serve to control our future and channel our efforts to change the narrative and bring us together and tell our story.”

The Chief Executive said film could be connected to economic power, hence there was the need to invest in film and creative space.

“As a continent one of the ways we can emancipate ourselves is by enhancing our economic will power, by investing in the medium of film, and creative space. Only then can we say that we own the medium that speaks to us, and our children and we can begin to hope to own the medium that would control who we are, moving forward.”

Ms Annabelle McKenzie, Director of the ‘Beyond the Return’ Secretariat, said with so many platforms around the world expressing more interest in African content, the time was now for Ghana to work towards building an industry that could make a global impact.

She said partnering with the diaspora was one of the ways to develop and increase Africa’s reach to audiences, adding that “I see the potential for greatness in our music and film industries in this.”

“The diaspora and Ghanaians can come together to tell some of the great stories from Africans and African Americans. Although we have some cultural differences due to being on different continents, we have so much more in common than we realize. This makes for great potential when it comes to storytelling in a unique way,” she added.

GNA