The business manager for Silverbird Cinemas in Ghana, Nana Yaw Twum-Barimah Yeboah is calling for the establishment and expansion of community cinemas across the country to rekindle the cinema experience.
With a fervent belief that Ghana has not lost its cinema-going culture, Twum-Barimah Yeboah indicated that people have fallen for that narrative because there were not many cinemas, urging stakeholders to take immediate action to salvage the situation.
Speaking at Graphic Showbiz’s X Dialogue Series about the Ghana Cinema Agenda, he said, "The need for community cinemas [is real]. We've not lost the cinema-going culture; it's because we have few of them."
Drawing attention to the situation in the Ashanti region, he revealed that the city boasts fewer than 330 seats in its cinemas, leaving many movie enthusiasts longing for an authentic experience in the cinemas. He noted that Ghana will host Africa’s first cinema summit this November.
"Imagine a big local movie release, and just a little over 2000 people can have access to this viewing experience across the entire city,” Twum-Barimah Yeboah said. “How do we have people access cinema halls when the seats are so limited?"
He noted that Ghana needed more screens and cinemas to realize the full potential of the industry and generate enough income for local movies.
Twum-Barimah Yeboah also highlighted the instances when Silverbird Cinemas had to turn people away because they sold-out shows, indicating the undeniable demand for quality entertainment.
Along with Twum-Barimah Yeboah, other speakers on the show were Juliet Asante, CEO of National Film Authority, Alayo Machado, account manager, Filmone Entertainment, and Ivan Quashigah, film producer and CEO of Farmhouse productions.