Ghanaian filmmakers can make films. Getting paying audiences to watch them is the harder part, and without that, investors will not come.
That was the message from producers and regulators at the launch of the second Peruvian Film Festival at the University of Media, Arts and Communication (UniMAC) in Accra on 8 October 2026. It lands five months after the government launched a GH¢20 million Film Development Fund to revive the industry, of which only a quarter had been released by May.
The festival, organised by the Embassy of Peru with the National Film Authority (NFA) and UniMAC, was billed as a cultural exchange. The panel discussion turned instead to money: who distributes Ghanaian films, who watches them, and how anyone can tell.
A market without numbers
Producer, screenwriter and film educator Yaw Firempong Boakye said the industry’s shortage of reliable data was holding back private investment. Investors want to know how many people watch a film, where and what it earns. Without consistent records of cinema attendance, streaming figures and box office revenue, a producer pitching a project has little to show beyond enthusiasm.
That gap affects more than producers. Every film that fails to recover its costs means less work for the actors, writers, editors and camera crews who depend on the next one getting made.
Filmmaker and creative director Epiphania Sarah Ama Ablorde said she thinks about the market from the start. “I’m very particular how marketable the film is,” she said.
Too few screens
Kafui Danku-Pitcher, who heads the NFA, acknowledged problems with distribution, production quality and access to audiences, and called for a more coordinated system to move Ghanaian films into cinemas and onto digital platforms. Promoting the distribution and exhibition of local films is part of the authority’s legal mandate.
Cinemas remain scarce outside the big cities. James Gardiner, the NFA’s deputy head, outlined plans to bring screenings closer to communities, though such schemes need steady operating funds and a reliable supply of films people want to see.
Streaming offers another route, but uploading a film does not guarantee an income. Producers still need distribution deals, marketing and clear reporting of viewing and earnings to know whether an online release pays.
The fund’s first test
Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson announced the GH¢20 million Film Development Fund in the 2026 Budget, presented on 13 November 2025, as seed money to revive an industry including Kumasi’s Kumawood productions. A separate GH¢20 million went to a Creative Arts Fund.
The NFA launched the film fund on 20 May 2026 at Silverbird Cinemas in Accra and inaugurated a committee to manage it. At the time, the authority said the government had released GH¢5 million. The fund is meant to support research, training, infrastructure and eligible projects, and licensed filmmakers and companies are expected to pay a levy into it.
NFA Board Chair Ivan Quashigah warned at the launch that the fund was not a bonanza and said the industry’s future lies in audience development and market expansion. Producer Kofi Asamoah urged that the money go into production rather than workshops.
The panel in Accra suggested the two aims are linked. Films financed by the fund will face the same question as every other Ghanaian production: whether anyone can show they made money.
Looking abroad
Jonathan Quevedo, Peru’s Deputy Ambassador to Ghana, said conversations at festivals can lead to co-productions, academic exchanges and lasting partnerships between film communities. Peruvian director and lecturer Rossana Díaz Costa, who joined from Madrid, offered a more sober note. “You need a lot of patience if you want to be a filmmaker,” she said.
Matilda Ntiriwaa Kyei, the embassy’s cultural promotion officer, moderated the discussion. The festival runs at UniMAC’s South Legon campus.
