Photos: Ghanaian cinemas then and now

Once upon a time there were no televisions in most homes in Ghana, nearly every Ghanaian trooped to the cinemas to be entertained. According to one of Ghana’s foremost cinematographer, filmmaker and photographer, Rev Dr Chris Tsui Hesse, the cinemas generated huge income for the Ghanaian economy. He said when people visit the cinemas to watch a movie, they have to sing the national anthem, watch news, and a documentary before the movie. This, he said, heightened patriotism. Today these state-owned cinemas are a pale shadow of themselves. They have been abandoned, and left to deteriorate. If this is how we treat state-owned properties, then what would be the future of ongoing state sponsored projects 60 year from now? According to Rev Dr Hesse, the current generation seems to be unaware of the power of the media hence the influx of cheap foreign content that is conflicting with Ghanaian identity and culture.