Screening Media That Matters in Ghana, Africa

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Posted on June 14, 2005

by Kimberly Jane Fuller

I am crammed onto an African-style sofa with eight Ghanaian teenagers. We are silent, glued to the television set. We sit together in reverence and captivation, as each short story unfolds. A film about bullying in America finishes and Joshua immediately blurts out his anger of the injustice. Rebecca is stunned by the atrocity of an oil spill in South America. "Why would they drink that filthy water sister Kimberly?" But I can't seem to answer their questions and remain sandwiched between their inquisitive minds. I am conscious of each of their reactions to the films and intrigued by that very moment when they realize that there are moving, true stories occurring all around the world.

Kimberly Fuller of the Canadian International Development Agency with youth from the Nima Mamobi Gale Community Library in Ghana

These youth are part of a very talented drama club that meets regularly at the Nima Mamobi Gale Community Library where I worked when interning for the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). CIDA is the federal agency charged with planning and implementing most of Canada's development cooperation program. The program's goals are to reduce poverty and to contribute to a more secure, equitable and prosperous world. CIDA supports projects in more than 150 countries and works in partnership with developing countries, Canadian organizations, institutions and businesses, as well as with international organizations and agencies. I was working with the OSU Library fund-Ghana who placed me at the Nima Maamobi Gale Community Library.

Kimberly screened the third annual Media that Matters Film Festival DVD for the youth participants in the Drama Club Nima Maamobi Gale.

A peace core volunteer, Christine Giraud, was working for NAFTI (The National Film Institute Ghana) at the time of my internship and she loaned me a copy of the third annual Media that Matters Film Festival DVD. I decided to screen the short films with the drama club but due to a power outage on the day of the screening, we watched the DVD at Joshua's uncle's house. Joshua leads the drama team -- this 19-year-old is not only a gifted actor and scriptwriter but he also teaches a literacy class at the Library. The drama group huddled into a 5x7 foot living room to watch the films. Many are shocked to learn that DVD players are quite common in the city of Accra but at the same time, it is also quite normal to power a television set by a car battery. This juxtaposition encapsulates the polarity of everyday life in Nima, a slum-area within the city of Accra, Ghana.

Showing the short films from the festival to the drama team spurred a discussion about documentary films -- both their form and content. We discussed the definition of a "social issue" and what it means to address these issues through film. Along with the Media That Matters DVD, Christine had loaned me a video camera. Aware of Joshua's talents and my access to equipment, I was inspired to create short films with the library and drama group members.

Inspired by the Media That Matters shorts, Drama Club members decided to make their own short film about local pollution.

While I humbly attempted to address social issues within a foreign community, I came to realize the significance of social awareness. Community film projects capture the voice of the local community and are a source of empowerment to the participants. Making these short films proved to be an effective and powerful tool in getting the community to discuss and address various local concerns. Camera in hand, the library members interviewed their friends and neighbors on the topic of pollution while the drama club acted out a short story about child abuse. These were the issues the youth themselves came up with, and Joshua's script was used to create the short film we made. The people of Nima watched in fascination as their youth proudly documented the voices of Ghanaian empowerment.

The projects that I initiated and the friends I made while working as a CIDA intern made a huge impact on my life. I will never forget screaming out "quiet on the set" with 50 children standing behind the camera, mesmerized by the whole event; it is my hope that those children won't forget either.

Want to screen Media That Matters in your community? Contact Wendy Cohen.