Silverbird Cinemas Ghana has decided to go ahead with the premiere of Venus Films Production’s Savannah despite the threat of a lawsuit from the Dagbon Youth Forum.

The movie which has faced severe backlash from the people of Dagbon for misrepresenting them and their culture to the world is scheduled to premiere at the Silverbird cinemas today, December 25 at 7 pm prompt at the Accra Mall and West Hills Mall.

This comes barely a day after, the Cinema had announced that it would be postponing the premiering of the film.

Savannah would be premiered today at our West Hills and Accra Mall branches.
Tickets are available and fast selling.
Make your weekend an awesome one with Silverbird Cinemas.
Showing at our West Hills and Accra Mall branches ❤
Ticket cost GHC 50 pic.twitter.com/0edIakwHpx

— Silverbird Ghana (@SilverbirdGhana) December 25, 2021

In a now-deleted Twitter post, they had announced that : “We wish to apologise to the general public and announce that the premiere of Savannah has been postponed until further notice. Communication regarding new dates and schedules would be made available in the coming weeks. We wish to apologise once more for any inconvenience(s).”

Meanwhile, promoters of the film in Tamale have rescinded their decision to promote and air the movie following the concerns raised about it.

The group of promoters including OBL Studios, one Mr Nashiru, King Faisal, and Abdul Rashid disclosed this to the Dagbon Forum on Thursday, December 23.

The Dagbon Forum, a youth platform of Dagbon Youth, had threatened legal actions against Venus Films Production and Silverbird Cinemas Ghana over the movie.

According to the group, the movie’s theme is centred on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), a cultural practice they say is alien to the Northern Region and should not be allowed to misinform the world by denting the image of the region.

In a letter sighted by JoyNews, a legal practitioner and solicitor for the Dagbon Forum, A. F. Yakubu described the movie’s theme as fake and challenged the company to produce a victim of FGM in Dagbon to back their claim or halt the premiering of the film.

“Our clients say the said movie, which is in the nature of a documentary, falsely and maliciously presents female genital mutilation as being practiced under Dagbon custom with gruesome images and depictions of cruelty and deaths resulting from such practices,” he said.

He argues that this will dent the image of the region and Dagbon if allowed to be broadcast to the world.

He warned that any company or institution lending itself to propagate such a “fake and defamatory” documentary will be liable for defaming Dagbombas as a whole.

Mr Yakubu further advised the company and organizers of the movie to distance themselves from the film until they provided evidence.