That day, in 2016, when the then Minister responsible for Culture and Creative Arts, Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, stood before a battery of television cameras, with newspaper still-cameras flashing blindingly as she waved the freshly signed Development and Classification of Film Act, 2016 (Act 935), I knew that a Film Finance Fund was not too far away.

From the time it was laid before Parliament to its eventual passage, the bill had lain dormant for 12 years. But true to my prophecy, the Film Finance Fund is here. In 2026, government has announced an allocation of GH¢20 million to develop the sector.

Last Wednesday, the National Film Authority (NFA) launched the Film Development Fund with GH¢20 million in seed money and inaugurated the Fund’s Management Committee.

The NFA Board Chair, Ivan Quashigah, one of the industry’s best brains, whose 2003 television hit, ‘Things We Do for Love’, unearthed gifted artists like Adjetey Annan (Pusher) and Jackie Appiah, was exultant. For him, this was victory. On Wednesday, he came appropriately robed in white.

In his victory speech, he recalled the many years that practitioners “had demonstrated extraordinary resilience and creativity despite limited financing opportunities and infrastructural challenges.”

In victory, however, he forgot to acknowledge the Kwaw Ansahs, the Sam Aryeeteys, the Chris Hesses, and the Ato Yanneys who have raised the Film Finance cry since the 1980s. In fact, for Yours Truly, a newspaper Arts columnist at the time, the cry became a monthly inky advocacy in the ‘Ghanaian Times’. (Forgive me, dear readers, for forsaking my modesty to blow my own whistle – first time ever in my life, believe me).

As actors, technicians, and other creative professionals walk into the future of the film industry, Ivan is quick to warn that “this Fund is not a bonanza. It is not an opportunity for practitioners to dip into public resources and go on a spending spree. Rather, it is a strategic investment vehicle that must be used judiciously to produce quality films, build sustainable enterprises, strengthen value chains, and revive the Ghanaian film industry.”

When Kwaw Ansah, Ghana’s other name for film, walked up to the podium, his concern was more with the fairness and transparency of the disbursement process. He forewarned the Fund Management Committee that “soon, you will be receiving orders from above and below, but I advise you to stand firm. Please, pressure from above and below doesn’t produce good films”

Ivan Quarshigah operationalised Uncle Kwaw’s fears. “Ensure that supported projects are selected based on merit, viability, quality, audience appeal, and investment potential,” he told the committee.

For film to become a true economic infrastructure that creates jobs, stimulates tourism, preserves culture, drives exports, inspires innovation, and strengthens national identity, the NFA Board Chair laid out the future for Ghana’s film industry: “It lies in audience development and market expansion,” he said.

Toward this end, the NFA is actively pursuing the activation of the GHANA CINEMA TRAIN INITIATIVE, an innovative nationwide cinema and exhibition project designed to expand access to film beyond traditional cinema spaces in Accra and a few urban centres.

To this Cinema Train network, the NFA invites institutions, community organisations, private exhibitors, schools, cultural centres, event organisers, and individuals interested in the exhibition and promotion of Ghanaian films across the country. Individuals and organisations with space for film exhibition must register with the Authority.

Not a bad concept; indeed, David Dontoh, as the first Board Chair, became obsessed with the imperative to expand access through more film exhibition centres. He spoke of film conduits, namely various grades of cinema theatres, starting from Grade One Theatres, designed to incorporate a theatre-in-the-round. The theatres will come complete with “chopping malls” – as opposed to shopping malls - with eateries, bistros, up-market chop bars, pubs, health clinics and craft shops.

Question: How do we transform this future from a dream into reality? As a journalist and cultural activist who has been around, Yours Truly wishes to remind everybody that this is not the first time a government has given seed money to arts and culture. In 2004, President Kufuor allocated GH¢10 million to launch Ghana’s Cultural Policy.

The money went missing!

Back to the GHANA CINEMA TRAIN INITIATIVE. My question is: with which films? Oh, there is no doubt that we have a large bank of films from both the celluloid and video eras. The real question is, are we happy with the quality? Are we competitive globally – or even in West Africa?

Should we grow up and out of the grandmother's fireside tales? Good tales, but to be a film, acceptable to critical universal audiences, I beg to suggest that our stories will benefit from research.

How can we continue to major on man’s helplessness at the mercy of witches? Why should we, in 2026, be telling our people that all of life’s problems are spiritual and that the only solution is the pastor’s tongues, the throwing of cowries at the shrine and the spiritual intervention of mallams?

Bottom line: Which film projects will qualify for funding?