By Benjamin Nii Nai Anyetei
Oscar-winning filmmaker Ben Proudfoot has issued a strong appeal for the immediate digitisation of Ghana’s early cinematic records shot by the veteran cinematographer Chris Hesse during the presidency of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, warning that decades of irreplaceable visual history risk being permanently lost due to deterioration.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with GBC News during the premiere of The Eyes of Ghana at the National Theatre in Accra, Proudfoot highlighted the fragile condition of archival film reels documenting the work of veteran cinematographer Chris Hesse during the presidency of Dr Kwame Nkrumah. He noted that only a fraction of the extensive footage is currently usable, while the rest remains stored in conditions vulnerable to chemical decay and age-related damage.
He explained that the recovered 15 minutes offers a powerful glimpse into Ghana’s independence era visual history, but stressed that it represents only a fraction of a much larger archive documenting the work of veteran cinematographer Chris Hesse during the presidency of Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
According to him, the bulk of the material, estimated at over 300 hours of original film negatives, is preserved in a vault in London, where restoration and digitisation efforts are required and without urgent intervention, Ghana risks losing a critical visual record of its early independence era.
Proudfoot warned that the combination of chemical deterioration and time is placing the archives at serious risk, stressing the need for coordinated action between government institutions, cultural agencies, and international partners to secure their preservation.
He further emphasized that the archive represents not only Ghana’s national history but also an important part of African and global cinematic heritage, making its preservation a matter of international cultural importance.
The Eyes of Ghana was directed by Ben Proudfoot who is a two-time Academy Award winning documentary filmmaker and the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Breakwater Studios. The documentary traces the extraordinary life of veteran Ghanaian cinematographer Chris Hesse, who served as the personal cameraman to Ghana’s first President, Kwame Nkrumah, during the 1950s and 1960s.
The film details how Hesse documented major national milestones, including state visits, political rallies, diplomatic engagements and independence-era events, offering a rare visual archive of Ghana’s formative years.
Canadian filmmaker Proudfoot first met Hesse when the latter was 90-years-old after Ghanaian journalist Justice Baidoo, who is a co-producer on The Eyes of Ghana, introduced the two filmmakers while Proudfoot was in Ghana shooting a film for UNICEF. Hesse told Proudfoot about his secret archive of more than 1,000 films and asked Proudfoot for his help to digitize them.
Originally imagining a short documentary about Hesse, Proudfoot consulted his friend Bwayo, the Ugandan filmmaker behind Bobi Wine: The People’s President, who convinced him to turn the film into a feature. The Eyes of Ghana is produced by Breakwater Studios’ Proudfoot and Nana Adwoa Frimpong, Afonu, Bwayo and Brandon Somerhalder alongside Higher Ground’s Ethan Lewis and Vinnie Malhotra. Barack and Michelle Obama are executive producers on the project.
