Ghanaians In New Hollywood Film

The desire of most Ghanaian artistes to hit the limelight in the film industry has been given impetus as Toronto Pictures Incorporated, a public traded film development and production company will feature five Ghanaian artistes in a Hollywood film to be cast in August this year. Hollywood stars and Academy Award winners will play leading roles in the non-violent new movie by Toronto Pictures to be filmed in Romania. English-speaking Romanians as well as Toronto Pictures actors will feature in the film, Ms Daria Trifu of Toronto Pictures told the Ghana News Agency in a telephone interview from their base in Canada on Monday. The Ghanaian actors will be chosen over the next few months and they will be employed in relevant roles to offer them an exceptional opportunity to start an international acting career. The Company uses top Hollywood 35 mm film production standard, targeting a global audience and explores different cultures and addresses controversial issues of our time in dramatic format. With cultural influences from Europe, North America, Asia and now Africa, the Company is authentically international in its scope and recognition. Acclaimed international film director, producer and script writer, Bruno Pischiutta alongside Ms Trifu are the Executive Producers. Toronto Pictures broke new grounds for the film industry in Ghana by producing “Punctured Hope,” a feature film based on the true story of one Belinda Siamey of Ghana. The film consists of a plot to enslave a young girl within the confines of a shrine, outside a small village in Ghana and her horrific ordeal through sexual abuse and genital mutilation. Her destiny is dictated by a tradition that is outlawed by the government, although not persecuted due to social and law-enforcing complexities. The film’s screenwriters, Pastor Kingsley Sam Obed and Bruno Pischiutta, aim at divulging this brutal time-honoured practice to international audiences, because the majority of them are distressingly unaware of it. The shrine consists of a set design that is identical to the original, as are the costumes worn by the slaves, the manner in which the members of the shrine move about and the portrayal of the fetish priest’s demeanour. Other technical details such as the scenes depicting rituals of black magic complement the film, initiating the ambiance that the plot evolves in. ‘Puncture Pictures’ was screened privately in New York and in Accra with great success, and is now at Hollywood for world distribution. Toronto Pictures hopes to give the possibility to Ghana to get a world promotion and to Hollywood to finally distribute a film with an African subject and 100 percent African cast.