The Public Relations and Welfare Officer of the Film Producers Association of Ghana (FIPAG), Michael Kwaku Ola, has described the Cinematographic and Classification Board as an ineffective organisation whose only aim is to collect money from local film producers without doing anything in return to safeguard the interest of filmmakers.
In an interview with Graphic Showbiz, Michael Ola stated that members of FIPAG were frustrated with the ineptitude of the Board and will no longer submit movies to the Board for preview.
“We want nothing more than to see the collapse of the current Board and a new one set up in place. The current Board is full of old men doing nothing to fight piracy in the country,” he said.
The Cinematography and Classification Board is the state outfit responsible for certifying and classifying all films produced and imported into the country to ensure that they meet moral and ethical standards and are also wholesome for public viewing.
Michael Ola explained that the Board had the mandate not only to check piracy but to review all movies, both foreign and local, before they are allowed to be sold or aired in Ghana.
He said the Board has so far failed to check the wanton importation of movies but only seem interested in harassing local film producers and collecting the fee of GH150 for each feature film reviewed.
“The board is to ensure that all audio-visual material on the Ghanaian market comes through them before they are sent to the market. They are required and equipped by law to embark on exercises to seize any work that has not been duly previewed and classified by them. They have, however, woefully failed to do that.
“We have also observed that many foreign works are exhibited without going through the Board and they sit unconcerned,” he said.
“Television stations are now showing everything and anything without the appropriate classifications and some have their foreign contents on CDs on the market now. Does the board know about that?” he asked.
Michael Ola told Showbiz that the members of FIPAG were not concerned about the legal repercussions of their decision.
“The Cinematography Board has so far proved unwilling to prosecute pirates and others breaking the law so it has no moral basis to prosecute FIPAG.”
In an interview with Ken Addy, a member of the Cinematography Board, he expressed absolute surprise at the decision of FIPAG, adding that no one had communicated the boycott to the board. He questioned why Asare Hackman, the president of FIPAG who was also a member of the Cinematography Board failed to inform the Board.
He explained that he agreed with some of the complaints of FIPAG but added that the Board was made up of public servants who were only doing a duty to the public and only received GHC40, for transportation.
“As members of the Cinematography Board we are not paid a dime, and even the TV set we use to watch the movie is the ‘hunchedback’ type. We also have to write our reviews manually in an old notebook. There is no element of technology in what we do,” he said.
He however called on FIPAG to reconsider their decision to boycott the Cinematography Board, since releasing movies onto the market without certification and review would only make matters worse in the Ghanaian film industry.
“The law states that all films which are to be released in the country must go through the board so the decision of FIPAG is not the best. We have to work together to solve the problems in the industry and not make matter worse by taking the law into our own hands,” he said.
