Veteran Ghanaian filmmaker Socrate Safo has disclosed that he was a footballer before venturing into the film industry.

Speaking in an interview with Kwame Dadzie on Joy FM’s Showbiz A-Z, the controversial director revealed that he once played for the youth side of Okwahu United.

“I was once a footballer. I played for Okwahu United under 17,” he said.

Safo, born John Koranteng Safo, added that the name Socrate was given to him during his football days. According to him, his playing style reminded people of the legendary Brazilian footballer Dr Socrates, hence the nickname.

He noted that although football seemed promising, he eventually left the sport to pursue a career in filmmaking. His passion for the arts, he said, was too strong to ignore.

He further shared that even while enrolled at the Mercedes Benz GNTC, a technical training school in Accra, his interest in film persisted. He would often read about filmmaking and find himself drawn more to the creative arts than to engineering or mechanics.

Socrate Safo is widely known for his contributions to the Ghanaian film industry, particularly during the video film era of the late 1990s and early 2000s. 

He gained prominence for directing and producing socially conscious films. Some of his well-known works include Hot Fork, Sin of the Soul, and God Loves Prostitutes. 

In addition to his filmmaking career, Socrate Safo was actively involved in arts administration. He served as the Director for Creative Arts at the National Commission on Culture, where he contributed to policymaking and development initiatives for the creative industry.