The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Film Authority of Ghana, Juliet Yaa Asantewa Asante, has berated the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for its report culled from an interview with Idris Elba.

While BBC reports that the British actor has announced plans to relocate to Africa, but it fails to mention that the statement was made during the Africa Cinema Summit 2024 which was held in Accra.

The story only indicates that Idris made the comment during an "industry event in Accra."

Venting her spleen and disappointment on the matter, Juliet who is the convener of the Africa Cinema Summit, wrote on Facebook: "It's disingenuous for a global and trustworthy channel like BBC News to not give credit where it's due."

Read her statement below:

”A couple of weeks back, we had the #africacinemasummit in Ghana at which the headliner was #IdrisElba…

We invited the channel with other channels to have a one on one with Idris, as part of the agenda, as Idris is a son of the land and a promotor of African cinema. We set up a place for the interview, made time and give them a chair and room for the interview…

During the interview, Idris, makes a number of announcements… including that he is a ‘Ga boy’ and that he is looking to move to Ghana and of course, be present in all of Africa… let’s not forget that he is both Ghanaian and Sierra Leonian…

The interview comes out and first, they mention ‘Africa’ as it is one country!!! My question… he had said I will move to the Uk, will they have said Idris plans to move to Europe? Or will they have said he plans to move to Great Britain?… fair enough…

But what really gets to me is that they didn’t even have the dignity to say that he made these comments at the #Acs2024 but they say that he made the comments at an ‘industry event in Accra’!!! Really!!!!? Not intending comparisons but this is truly disrespectful of the summit and the effort. If you had interviewed him at Cannes, would you have said ‘industry event in France?! Or where ever?

We invite you and give you the biggest scoop! This article was the most read article when it came out on your platform and you can’t even give credit where credit is due?

Fair enough… you don’t need to mention the National Film Authority of Ghana or our partners, Silverbird Ghana or the #Nilegroup that worked so hard to get make this happen… but to not mention the Africa cinema summit is disingenuous at best for such a global and trustworthy channel…

And to the Ghanaian channel that are also publishing the article without the right acknowledgments… this is how we all get vanished in the end… including yourself

I am choosing to voice out my thoughts on this matter, as it truly speaks to a bigger issue!… and let’s all take a moment to ponder what that bigger issue is…

I have said my piece.

Juliet Yaa Asantewa Asante

(Convener - Africa Cinema Summit and CEO of the National film Authority of Ghana).

About Africa Cinema Summit

This years’ Africa Cinema Summit took place from October 7-10, 2024 at the Movempick Hotel in Accra, with Idris Elba as headline personality.

The summit which was held at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra from 7th to 10th October 2024 drew, from across the globe, film buffs such as English actor of Ghanaian descent, Idris Elba, who headlined the opening of this year’s event.

The 2024 programme focused on growth in quality of local content production and consumption driving the case for increased cinema investment.

This year’s edition had more progressive conversations on how to further consolidate the progress made in the African cinema industry, fostering collaboration, innovation and sustainable growth.

The first edition of the event, drew various film makers from 20 African countries to Ghana for varied conversations on growing cinema on the continent.

The Africa Cinema Summit 2024, organised by the National Film Authority, was in partnership with Filmhouse Group (Nigeria), Silverbird Cinema (Ghana), Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria, Century CineMax (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda) and Canal Olympia.