The Age of Transition: Ghana’s Video Films’ Reflections, 1980s – 2018

This thesis examines the reflections of socio-cultural, political and economic phenomena in Ghanaian video films. The meta-questions of this study are how filmic reflections on socio-cultural, political and economic phenomena are made? and how these reflections construct the image of Ghana? The 1980s social, political instabilities and specifically, the economic recession in Ghana within the context of debts, inflation, prostitution, political coup, murder among others prompted the liberalization and privatization of various state institutions which comprised the Ghana Film Industry Corporation. As a result, the film industry which was financially supported by the state came to a near sense of halt. However, the introduction of video technology gave rise to video film production in Ghana during the 1980s. This made it possible for a few independent filmmakers who without film-processing laboratories produced films on VHS recorders among others which precluded the film industry from a total decline in Ghana. Through a qualitative research approach, based on both primary and secondary sources which include video film texts, newspapers, minutes, memoranda, letters, interviews among others, this study interrogates the historical backdrop of the Ghana movie industry, film transformation from the periods of colonial, ‘Independence' Ghana and most importantly, films from the 1980s, which marks the age of transition in terms of video film production to contemporary times in Ghana.