PRIORITIES AND CRITICISM

I am Ghanaian. No matter how many times I try to shake my head and give up, that love for country is so strong, I can't help it.

Nobody likes criticism. We all would love to be patted on the back for everything we do. The only opinions we'd rather hear are the ones that bask us in praise and glory.

Well, that is not a very smart process.

My blood boiled this morning when I came upon this photo.How on earth can we be so shortsighted? Unfortunately, when you speak out, you are tagged controversial, trouble causer, ugly, unpopular etc. Thus, for fear of cyber bullies, folks prefer to mind their business. The few who talk do it on social media and then go back home to stay in the problem. This is where I ask in my language: ko deh, enu me tia mi wa?

I have had my fair share of personal attacks clothed in criticism and objective criticism. Each time, I have managed to make either of them work to my advantage. No kidding, had it not been for haters, I'd probably be a big fish in a small pond.

Watching a CSI Miami episode, there was this scene were a dying man was kept alive by the worms eating away at a gunshot wound on his head. Let that marinate for a bit if you please. Worms. The final end for man, but somehow, they kept him alive and saved his life.

Haters, critics. That's how I see them. Some come to eat you and finish you but ultimately, they keep you alive. They keep you on your toes. You strive to do better and bigger and ultimately, you win.

Fighting those who correct you puts you at a disadvantage. Everyone tells you what you want to hear, you live in a bubble until it bursts. When you start to tag opinionated people, who do not keep their valuable opinion to themselves controversial this, controversial that, you shut them up.
Beast of No Nation was shot in Ghana. Here are some of the things the director, Cary Fukunaga said about Ghana:

“trying to get everyone on board with the style of filmmaking that we wanted to do was a huge learning curve,”

I wish I had a list in front of me of the daily crises we faced. From the moment America beat Ghana in the World Cup and all the drivers and hotel cooking staff decided not to show up to work the next day... 

When we were on the ground in Ghana, the cost of everything was inflating, and I was cutting pages from the script.

“So things that you take for granted like food, transport and hotels became an issue.” We were losing stuff and things were getting stolen.” 

I was so pissed! How dare him say these things about my dear country? But then I took a deep breath. And I realized that the man said nothing but the truth. Truths that I had also experienced. He was sharing his reality. 

What are your priorities? The red carpets, the make-up, the few teaming fans who pose with you for pictures. That's it?
It's unfortunate that in Africa we validate people by their outward appearance.
I recently completed a film in Ghana. Painful, painful journey, but amazing at the same time. It afforded me the opportunity to realize that we do not care about the film we're making. We care that people know we're making a film. Did you catch that? It's not about the quality of the process or the work. It is about that people know we are making a movie. And because of that, the two key persons on a film set; the 1st AD and the UPM spent all their time posing beside the camera. 300 photos.
I wept.
People must know we shot on this camera with white people, with this actor, with this equipment and they must know we belong. Doing the job we're hired for is not a priority. Bragging rights is more important.
No matter how many times I take crew from here to Ghana to shoot and teach the Ghanaian team how to make movies the right way, most of them will never learn because of where their priorities are.

Werner Herzog, who directed Cobra Verde in Ghana 30 years ago had this to say: “one of the worst I have ever experienced… You have to deviate from your normal way of doing things and try to understand the tempo of the continent. A strict Prussian military type would buckle in a matter of days.”

 30 years ago. My DP heard me yelling at the AD and he laughed and said: The learning curve does not exist in this country. I was angry he said that, but he was right.

 It baffles me when filmmakers in Ghana complain of funding. You cannot be driving a G wagon, range rover, wearing designer shoes and bags... 80,000 dollars cars and be talking lack of funding at the same time. Irony: your movie budget is less than the price of your car.
People have mortgaged their homes to make films. Ex: Hustle and Flow. I know of a girl who sold her eggs (ovary) to make her short film.
But my people. We are validated by outward appearance. The cars, the make-up, the business class travel, the group of friends - status. The posing by the big camera. Those are our priorities.
Coincidentally, slavery started with them bringing us their gifts. Mirrors, tobacco, gun powder...and whiles we were looking into the mirror, they carried our people away.
2016. Neo-colonialism. We don't manufacture anything. We spend our hard earned money on their cars, their designer bags, shoes, lifestyle... visa fees which they return to us as loans and aid.
When you criticize, you're a hater.
When you stand outside and look in at the many many missed growth opportunities and you point them out, you're too known.