THE EYES OF GHANA Documentary

In his documentary feature debut, two-time Academy Award®-winning director Ben Proudfoot reveres the power of cinema through the eyes of the remarkable yet under-recognized Ghanaian filmmaker Chris Hesse, who captured essential footage of the political workings during the African independence movements throughout the mid-20th century as a personal cameraman to Kwame Nkrumah, revolutionary leader and Ghana’s first prime minister. Through Hesse’s vital lens, we witness the rise and fall of Nkrumah’s leadership: from Ghana’s freedom from colonial rule to his dreams and campaign for a united Africa, to the ’66 coup that saw the deposition of Nkrumah. When that happened, all the footage of Nkrumah was thought to have been lost or destroyed. Now, in his 90s, Hesse, with the help of Anita Afonu, his mentee and a promising filmmaker in her own right, sought to recover and restore over 300 hours in archive footage of Ghanaian history to revitalize a new generation of future leaders and artists. Executive-produced by the Obamas’ Higher Ground Productions, THE EYES OF GHANA spotlights the contagiously optimistic, ardently passionate and singular figure in Ghanaian cinematic history that, much like his previously presumed demolished oeuvre, was almost lost to time. –Anna Li