The Vim Views & Versions - Blogs of a MIghTy African

I love watching African movies. Sometimes when people introduce themselves in Konnect Groups (run by GhanaThink) and say that they like movies, I ask them about their favorite Ghanaian or African movies. I saw some billboards for the PAWN movie by Lynx Entertainment and Tigon Creative Studios, and I said to myself that this movie would break my cinema going duck. 100 is more affordable than what I thought the Silverbird Cinema ticket price would be after some horror stories friends shared on WhatsApp. So 1 fine Saturday, after attending a family related funeral with my sister Stacy and her kids, I decided to head to the Accra Mall to watch PAWN. How did you read that?  🤣 Get your mind out of the gutter and read this blog post, so that I can convince you to also go and watch PAWN. I did not watch the trailer before going to watch this movie. It actually did not occur to me. So I entered the cinema after getting my ticket with no expectations. I expected great music because of Richi...

Earlier this year,  +Oral Ofori  got in touch with me about the '1 Night in Vegas' movie. I hadn't heard about it yet. It was a  +Koby Maxwell  production. I'd seen Koby's first movie, Paparazzi - Eye in the Dark, when it premiered in the Bay Area. I interviewed him about it here and publicized it here . I was getting the chance to review a movie and preview it before it was available to the public. Always exciting. Upon some research, I realized that it featured   John Dumelo and Yvonne Nelson , two of Ghana's most popular movie stars. Van Vicker returned from the cast of Paparazzi - Eye in the Dark , joined by Jimmy Jean-Louis , the Haitian movie star who also starred in Leila Djansi's Sinking Sands . Another Haitian actress was part of the cast - Sarodj Bertin . In proper social media parlance, the movie has a hashtag. #OneNightInVegas . " We had a great time. Made love in Vegas. It's just weird that you're still here ".  #One...

Last Sunday, I blocked out some time to go see a couple of movies as part of the very first Francophone Film Festival in Accra. I aim to befriend more Francophone people living in Ghana, I have already befriended a number of belles and I really have to visit a French-speaking country this year. Since we have 3 surrounding Ghana - Burkina Faso, Togo and Ivory Coast, that should not be difficult. The first movie I saw at the film festival is one called "Le Mec Ideal", an Ivorian movie directed by Orwell Brown. It's a romantic comedy. The other I saw was called "Yeelen", a Malian movie. That movie was deep, I need another screening to dig deeper into that. Let's stick with "The Perfect Guy" movie for now. At the NAFTI Preview Theatre, watching Le Mec Ideal, an #Ivorian movie as part of the #Accra Francophone Film Festival. Loving it so far. — Ato Ulzen-Appiah (@Abocco) March 17, 2013 I had heard about "Le Mec Ideal" during the ti...

I love Shirley Frimpong-Manso's movies and I think she made the Ghanaian movie industry better during her entry in 2008. She brought the movie-going experience back with her premieres and she's been awarded for her work. Perfect Picture will always be in the conversation for the best Ghanaian movie ever. She just released the trailer for her 7th movie - Adams Apple. Adams Apple makes you think of Eve, doesn't it? Well yeah, there are 4 Eves on adorned on the website of her new movie - . Is this another girl talk movie? We'll see. I was alerted to this movie when I saw a post about it on Miss T-i-i-i-i's blog - http://myafricanmoviereviews.blogspot.com/ . Apparently, Adams Apple is going to be a ten chapter cinema movie series. Yes, I will give Shirley and Sparrow a pass on the many parts. Because we know there will be 10 parts. You can't say the same for other Nollywood and Ghanaian movies. How Sparrow will keep the story and interest going is to be seen. ”Adams...

By now you should have heard there is a Blackberry Craze sweeping West Africa. Blackberry Messenger (BBM) is all the rage . BBM is the new sms and guess what, if you have a Blackberry, it's free. BBM and smart phones may spell the death of sms messaging in Africa. Just watch. What better way to document the Blackberry craze than to do a Nollywood movie about it? Yup, get ready for some cultural education . With many laughs to boot. If dull moments do not exist in Ghana, the word dull is a Tagalog word to Nigerians . I just got a Blackberry for my brother last weekend. With it, he can communicate with his friends for free, at anytime. All he needs is 'data' and BBM . After getting to Ghana last December, I realised I may have faulted in buying an Android phone instead of a Blackberry. I thought hard and long about it, but really went for the Android cos the phone was cooler and it runs on Google technology . Uh huh. Another friend of mine who lives in Boston has been encoura...

It's an open secret that I pay more attention to African movies that are gunning for awards and film festivals. I did watch Blackberry Babes 1 & 2 recently because I was in an email conversation about the movie and decided to pique my interest. Blackberry Babes probably can't hold a candle to the movies I will be talking about in this blog post . However, if you know about the Blackberry craze sweeping Sub-Saharan Africa, then you should watch it. It's there on Youtube . But this post is really about the 2011 Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) , fast becoming Africa's Oscars as FESPACO goes through some soul searching. Viva Riva, a film from the Democratic Republic of Congo (yes, they make films there too and they ain't always about rape) was the big winner at the Africa Movie Academy Awards held last weekend in Bayelsa State. It was directed by Djo Tunda Wa Munga . Set in Congo (DRC) and Angola, it tells the story of Riva (played by Patsha Bay) who has rut...

It's great that there are a lot of African movies out there. But frankly, the only ones I really want to see are those gunning for the awards and going to film festivals. I can watch the rest online. Oh damn, did I step on someone's foot? I hope not. My favorite African director, Leila Djansi , is being honoured again. After all the wahala of ' I Sing Of A Well ' (won't tell you about it, there are other websites who excel at that), Leila's next film, Sinking Sands is proving to be even more successful. It received 9 nominations at the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA), which I am taking really seriously because they seem to be open to movies from most of Africa. Well, except the Francophone and Lusophone countries, which I hope is fixed soon. Since most people are losing faith in FESPACO, (will come back to this in another post), the AMAAs are the default African Oscars. Kate Henshaw, Ini Edo, Rita Dominic & Michael Ezuruonye at the AMAA 2011 Nomination N...

After watching 'I Sing Of A Well' (ISOAW), loving it and writing a review , I eagerly anticipated the next movie from Leila Djansi's stable. I also interviewed her about ISOAW and when Sinking Sands was being made ready for its Ghana premiere, I was offered the chance to preview Leila's 'Sinking Sands'. I had been really excited about this movie with the casting of Haiti's Jimmy Jean-Louis and Ama Abrebrese. After watching Sinking Sands, I had one word. Unique. It was unlike any Ghanaian movie I had ever seen. And that's the major reason why you should see it. The movie centers around domestic abuse but this only comes about because some changes come in the relationship between Gyimah (Jimmy's character) and Pabi (Ama's character). I think Jimmy does well in his African movie debut. Well, unless you want to count Phat Girlz (which featured Moqniue Parker) as the debut. It wasn't too difficult for him to fit in as his Haitian accent is not a...

I have blogged a whole lot about the folks at Fienipa but why shouldn't I? They are doing an awesome job with getting African content online and you should join me in supporting them. Their latest project is movies.fienipa.com , sort of an African IMDB. What prompted this post was an entry about the new Ghanaian movie called Elmina. Does Elmina sound familiar? It's the hometown of the MIghTy African, the guy writing this very post. It's also the first point and spot the Europeans landed at when they came to Africa. Yup, on 19th January 1482, 600 men lead by Don Diego d'Azambuja arrived in Elmina. Elmina is historical and important like that. And now Elmina is on the big screen? Thanks to Revele Films, the folks who brought you the award-winning 'Run, Baby, Run' movie. The producers of the two hit mini-series ‘Home Sweet Home’ and ‘Hotel St. James’, alongside the popular movie "Fire to Fire’ that featured local comedian Agya Koo, and ‘Agyapadie’, are back. ...

I already blogged about upcoming Paparazzi - Eye in the Dark movie here when the trailer came out . The movie features Ghana's Koby Maxwell who also sings the lead single in the soundtrack called "Do it". After I saw the trailer for the movie, I was very excited and proclaimed it the best movie Van Vicker has been in. Yes, @theRealVanVicker. I decided to ask Koby Maxwell and other people behind the movie a few questions about it. Below is the interview transcript. MightyAfrican: Who birthed the idea for the movie? Koby Maxwell: I came up with this story. My brother Kojo Adu Ansah and the director worked on it to put it together. MightyAfrican: Why was Van Vicker chosen for the lead role? Who else was considered? Koby Maxwell: Van Vicker is currently the hottest Actor in the business and the industry. I did carry out a survey on a cross-section of the Nollywood movie fans about who they would like to see in my production. Many responded and made mention of Van Vicker and ...

Which new actor/actress would debut to Ghanaians in Shirley Frimpong-Manso's latest movie? Damilola Adegbite. Yes, a Nigerian. Actually, the last name is familiar, I may know one of her in-laws. '6 Hours to Christmas' is the latest movie from the Sparrow Productions stable. ' 6 Hours to Christmas ' will premiere new movie on 29th October,2010 at the Natioanl Theatre. It follows Life and Living it , Scorned , The Perfect Picture , A Sting in a Tale (ASIAT) , and Check mate . What's the worst that could happen 6 Hours to Christmas? It's going to be interesting how Christmas in Ghana is portrayed in the movie. Shirley's movies have tended to show Ghana's middle to upper class and the belief would be that this movie would do the same. We'll see what Sparrow has up their sleeves. Here's the story/synopsis It looks like it's going to be a typical 24th December day for suave creative director, Reggie and perhaps a slightly more memorable one as ...

If you've followed my blog for awhile, you'll know how much I love the Ghanaian movie 'I sing of A well' (ISOAW). I interviewed the director, Leila Djansi , about it. I went through thick and thin to be able to watch a preview of the movie when it wasn't available anywhere. I then reviewed it , calling it one of the best African movies of all time. Now, it is available for you to buy and watch. At this link , it costs under $5. Get it today! The movie won multiple awards at the African Movie Academy Awards earlier this year. In a February 8, 2010 interview with yours truly, Leila Djansi answered "I have no idea yet" to the "When will the movie, ISOAW, be out on DVD or VCD?" question. She then told me it was in the hands of the distributor. The movie is finally able for purchase. It's been a long time coming, but it will be worth it. I will rather have great African movies be premiered, do the rouns at film festivals for a while before they a...

I am in love with the South African movie, Tsotsi . People might say the real truth is that I am in love with Terry Pheto rather. Doesn't matter. Tsotsi did win an Oscar, and that tells what kind of movie it is. I fell in love the first time I watched it and all of the 27 times I've seen it. I know the movie so well, I watched a version with Spanish subtitles and was able to explain to my friend everything that the characters were saying. I'd know everything they were saying when I've been taking notes. So, here are some soundbites. One of the things I love most about South Africa is that they have 11 official languages. Many South Africans I have met routinely speak more than 5 languages. I wish, I wish, I wish. There was a line in the South African crime-drama, Jerusalema: "This is the only country that we have to take shit in 11 languages". Classic. Tsotsi used many languages and it was very interesting to see when different languages were used. Tsotsi w...

Ghana's Koby Maxwell and Liberia's Chris Deshield have collaborated on the soundtrack song for the upcoming Nollywood movie, Paparazzi - Eye in the Dark. I first heard them perform "Do it" during the Memorial Day weekend when both musicians were in the Bay Area for the first African Spring Bling organized by Deejay Burt and co. The song is very catchy and is bound to be a popular one amongst African music fans everywhere. Koby Maxwell told me about this Paparazzi - Eye in the Dark movie project when I met him during the Memorial Day weekend. He mentioned that he was acting in the movie, in addition to his burgeoning music career, amongst other things. At a BBQ party at Deejay Burt's house, he and Chris Deshield sang along to their 'Do it' duet. And now, with direction from editor and cinematographer Black Magic Tim, we have the music video. See the music video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55OLlLtTvgw Lyrics for the song coming here . Asking around, many...

It was extremely beautiful when Africa was solidly behind Ghana's Black Stars at the latter stages of the World Cup in South Africa. One South African journalist re-designed the Ghana flag, replacing the Black Star with a Black map of Africa. I loved it. The Black Stars had been crowned 'Africa United' and the South Africans applied their "local is lekker" touch by christening them 'BaGhana BaGhana' to rhyme with their own Bafana Bafana. It made us all forget the May 2008 riots and xenophobic attacks. We've had the good and bad times, After a recent conversation with a friend in South Africa, I have come to learn that xenophobia in South Africa towards other Africans is quite real. It disappoints me. I love Mzansi, but such news troubles me greatly. To think that black South Africans would treat other black Africans with contempt is atrocious. We see South Africa opening up to the rest of Africa through Channel O, etc, but we need more than that. C...

While looking for more recent acting info on the lovely Terry Pheto, I came across a few movies. I had just seen the South African award-winning Oscar movie, Tsotsi , for the 27th time. Terry Pheto is something else. I wanna marry her. "You're having an affair with Amos?" Terry, Thando Iwam (Marry me) . I went to her Twitter page and in response to a tweet directed at her about her next movie, she had tweeted - "Hopeville The Movie opening 3rd of Sept nationwide." Excitement! Cheza cheza! Woza woza! I went on a Hopeville trailer hunt and found it. And then this blog post was birthed. Ke nako! Seriously, the fact that Terry Pheto is in a new movie, Hopeville, makes me want to clap. Applause. Hopeville is a TV series she's been in lately. If you can't make her out, she's the character called Fikile. I saw her in Goodbye Bafana and have been waiting for more movies with her. She's heavenly . I was almost going to change my facebook profile p...