Ban On Movie Release In Ghana Lifted

A directive given by a fifteen member, Film Regulating Committee (FRC), to halt the release of both Ghanaian and Nigerian movies on the Ghanaian market from Monday January 4 to 15th January 2010 has finally been officially lifted today. The two week ban on movie release came as a result of attempts by stakeholders in the Ghanaian movies industry to put measures in place, which will regulate the activities of movie producers, marketers and distributors alike. This was contained in a memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Film Producers Association of Ghana (FIPAG), Video/Film Producers Association of Ghana, Video Marketers Association of Ghana, Kantamato CDs and Cassettes Distributors Association of Ghana, Video Sellers Association of Ghana and Local Movie Retailers Association. Though some Kumasi based movies producers led by Mr. Samuel Akwasi Nyamekye refused to comply with the FRC�s directive, citing bad timing as their reason in the initial stages, they later agreed to suspend on their movie releases until January 15. Speaking to peacefmonline.com the President of the Video Marketers Association, Mr Samuel Ampadu, he expressed his satisfaction at how movie producers all over the country complied with the committee�s directive. �I am very happy producers agreed to do this to put things right in the industry. There are too many illegal, pirated and stolen movies in the system. I hope with this we will be able to flush out all uncensored and unwanted movies. It was not easy to monitor and make sure no movie was released but we have been able to complete the operation. � Mr. Ampadu stated. As part of the reforms the committee will from today allow only three Ghanaian movies and one Nigerian movie to be release every week. According to Mr. Ampadu three Ghanaian movies namely �Abrokyire Abrabo 3 and 4, �Sisters in Love� and �Devil Seed� have qualified, been censored by the censorship board and duly released today on the market. However no Nigerian movie was released because two Nigeria movies which were brought from Nigeria to be considered for release was rejected because they couldn�t produce censorship certificate from Nigeria to certify that indeed the movies have been censored in Nigeria. In effect, the Nigeria producers have to wait until next week Monday when the new set of 3 (Ghanaian) and One (Nigerian) movies will be released.