Hollywood has long understood the power of storytelling in shaping national identity.
From Lincoln, the acclaimed portrayal of former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, to Selma, chronicling the struggle of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr., and Jackie, documenting the life of former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, America continues to immortalise its history through cinema.
Most recently, anticipation surrounding Michael, the biopic on Michael Jackson, once again highlights how powerful nations preserve their legends not only in books and monuments, but also on screen.
In Ghana, however, many are beginning to ask a troubling question:
Where are our stories? Where are the films about Kwame Nkrumah? Where are the cinematic retellings of Yaa Asantewaa, J. H. Kwabena Nketia, or Kofi Annan?
For many historians, academics and creatives, Ghana’s silence in telling its own stories could have long-term consequences for national identity.
According to Professor Obadele Kambon, Pan-African activist and academic, cultural sovereignty extends far beyond politics and governance. It also includes ownership of narrative.
“If a people do not tell their own stories, someone else eventually will,” he argues.
Professor Kambon believes the danger is not merely about missing films or documentaries. It is about how future generations come to understand themselves.
He points to Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom as an example of how even deeply African stories are often adapted through foreign creative lenses. The concern is that Africa frequently exports raw history while importing interpretation. Thus, he notes, “when our enemies choose our heroes for us, they will come up with cures that don’t cure, solutions they don’t solve, because what they’ve done is they’ve misdiagnosed the problem.”
Yet Ghana’s challenge may not be a lack of historical material.
Deep within the University of Ghana, the J.H. Nketia Archives house decades of manuscripts, speeches, recordings and historical documents preserving fragments of Ghana’s collective memory.
Archivist George Gyasi Gyesaw says the institution continues to preserve invaluable records tied to Ghana’s political evolution, cultural identity and national heroes.
Despite the fragile and aged nature of some materials, Mr Gyesaw insists they can still be restored, digitised and adapted into modern formats for public access and creative use.
“If you don’t know your past, it’s very difficult to even know where you’re going. You always get lost. It is absolutely worth it to go back in time to look for these,” he said, assessing the importance of retelling the stories of Ghanaian heroes on the silver screen.
The issue, then, is no longer whether the stories exist. The issue is why they remain largely untold.
For Professor Kambon, preserving heroes should not only happen after death. He believes contemporary African figures should also be documented in real time before memory becomes mythology. That belief is partly reflected in a recent project he is undertaking involving Burkina Faso’s leader, Ibrahim Traoré. A massive mural is being constructed, with President Traore as the main muse, drawing on African ancestry. To Professor Kambon, the artwork signifies the support system of Africans, even from the ‘beyond.’
Theatre practitioner and academic Dr Abdul Karim Hakib also sees storytelling as essential to preserving national consciousness. Through theatre, film and performance, he argues, societies can pass values, struggles and aspirations across generations.
But preserving stories requires more than passion. It requires investment.
Ghana’s creative industry continues to face challenges, including limited funding, weak distribution systems, and inadequate archival digitisation. While filmmakers and researchers often express interest in historical storytelling, transforming archives into globally competitive productions remains difficult. The National Film Authority says steps are being taken to promote Ghanaian stories and legends both locally and internationally.
“Once the committee for the film development fund is inaugurated or instituted, the proper communication will be meted out, then everybody [creatives] will know the steps to take to get it [funding for movies],” James Gardiner, Deputy Chief Executive at the National Film Authority, revealed.
Still, the broader concern remains unresolved. History rarely disappears all at once. It fades slowly through neglected archives, deteriorating tapes, forgotten photographs and stories left untold.
And perhaps Ghana’s greatest risk is not the absence of heroes, but the possibility that future generations may inherit a nation without fully understanding the people who shaped it.
Because when a country loses its stories, it begins, little by little, to lose itself.
Story by: Ekow Boakye. Broadcast Journalist, EIB Network
