Ghanaian film producer Shirley Frimpong-Manso has condemned television stations that air unauthorised movies, describing the practice as deeply hurtful and criminal.

Speaking on Daybreak Hitz with Doreen Avio, the award-winning filmmaker said she does not engage with pirated content and is disheartened by how common it is for broadcasters to flout copyright laws.

“I want to kill all of them. I have a personal concern and I do not watch pirated stuff, I don’t care. People have said, oh, have you seen it? I said no. They said, oh, use this link and you can watch it. I never do because I know how much it hurts to spend,” she said on Hitz FM.

Frimpong-Manso highlighted the high cost and emotional toll of film production, stressing that the process is demanding and resource-intensive.

“Movie making is excruciating - the money - having to have 30, 40 plus people on set every day feeding them, it’s a lot. I don’t think people could have wrapped their head around the fact that even a 5 or a 10 day production, the people on set, we are feeding them, you’re buying breakfast, lunch, and dinner sometimes. It’s a whole thing, the investment, the emotional, the money aspect of it and stuff,” she said.

She described how devastating it is to see such efforts undermined by piracy.

“To be able to put that movie out and have somebody just take it and just show it. I can’t begin to describe it to you. It hurts more than anything in the world,” she added.

Frimpong-Manso also criticised the apparent inaction against media outlets that continue to broadcast pirated films, saying there is often clear evidence of wrongdoing.

“I don’t understand why we know who the culprits are and somehow they’re still out there doing it. This is something that we can’t warn and it’s a criminal offence.

“There’s evidence to what it is that they’re doing. I don’t understand why we’re babysitting this kind of thing,” she said.