Famous Ghanaian filmmaker Ama K Abebrese has raised fresh alarms over the unchecked piracy of locally produced films, calling it a destructive force that continues to undermine the growth of Ghana’s film industry.
During a discussion on UTV’s United Showbiz on Saturday, June 14, Ama detailed how her film ‘The Burial of Kojo’, which officially premiered on Netflix on March 31, 2019, was broadcast without authorization by a local television station just one month later.
“I don’t know where this TV station was. And I remember we hadn’t even been paid by Netflix for the film,” she recalled. “It was a struggle to make that film. We couldn’t find investors, so we resorted to Kickstarter. Then a TV station showed it without permission. And we actually contacted the TV station, and the person we contacted started playing dumb. He even blocked my number.”
Her experience, she revealed, is part of a pattern that dates back over a decade. As the former Head of Productions at Viasat 1, she had witnessed rival broadcasters illegally air big-budget films like Harry Potter, despite her station’s legitimate acquisition of screening rights.
“This is something I’ve been dealing with since 2012. Nothing has been done. People feel like they can do whatever they want because they know someone in power,” she said.
Ama’s frustration wasn’t just with the TV stations, but with the broader culture of impunity surrounding intellectual property theft in Ghana. She lamented how little regard is given to the creative sector by the very people responsible for protecting it.
“I feel like in Ghana, the arts are really not taken seriously. Especially by our lawmakers. They see it as just entertainment,” she noted.
The Beasts of No Nation star argued that continued piracy and weak enforcement of copyright protections have not only discouraged private investment in the industry but have also sabotaged its future.
“People say that the Ghanaian movie industry is dead and that it’s not going anywhere. But when people have been investing their own money, not only are you not supporting them, but you’re killing the industry by pirating it. We’re our own worst enemies,” she emphasized.
Ama concluded with a stark prediction: unless urgent and serious reforms are implemented, piracy will continue to haunt filmmakers like a recurring nightmare.
“So, until something is done, we will talk about it every two or three months, and they’ll keep doing it,” Ama K Abebrese averred.
