British actor, Idrissa Akuna Elba visited the Manhyia Palace in the Ashanti Kingdom and joined Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, chiefs, and a host of other natives.
Sunday, February 5, Elba attended the first Akwasidae of the year 2023 and paid homage to the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II and Asantehemaa Nana Konadu Yiadom III.
With his production team on hand, the actor taped parts of his time and the Akwasidae festival. It is reported that the footage will appear in an upcoming film of his.
The Akwasidae (Sacred Sunday) Festival is celebrated by the Ashantes once every six weeks on a Sunday at the Manhyia Palace, Kumasi, Ashanti region.
Centered on ancestral veneration, remembrance, and acknowledgment of past kings and various noble feats, it begins from the Asantehene’s throne room and is attended by large crowds in traditional clothing like royal kente.
‘The Beast of No Nation’ actor has been the talk of the town since last week when pictures and videos of his visit to President Akufo Addo went viral.
Idris Elba set to build a film studio in Ghana
During Idris Elba’s visit to the Jubilee House recently, he revealed to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo on Friday, February 3, 2023, that he and his partners were making preparations to build a film studio in Ghana and across West Africa.
The actor explained the rationale behind building a film studio that is to empower local and international movie producers to be able to produce standard and quality movies in Ghana.
He added that although a lot can be achieved in the film industry in Africa, the region lacked relevant facilities to make good movies.
Idris Elba believes his project would help salvage the situation and act as a stepping stone for greater things in Ghana.
He explained to President Nana Addo and other dignitaries present saying;
“We have been working for the last three to four years to put a facility like that in the country. You know there are a lot of filmmakers, a lot of African filmmakers but the facilities around are something that is lacking and preventing the making of good movies”.
Idris Elba
Idris Elba added that to ensure his outfit establishes a state-of-the-art film studio with a robust administration policy, his team is understudying and taking notes from countries like South Africa, Greece, and Morocco who realize the value of a film dollar.
“We realized that policy is where the actual groundwork needs to be laid. We’ve studied the models of South Africa, incredible incentive packages, Greece, Morocco and these are all places where they realize the value of the filmmaking and they’ve brought that policy into play”.
Idris Elba
He disclosed that pre-production is set for August, and principal photography would begin in December.
He also told the Ghanaian president that he intends for this film to be a proof of concept.
“It would be very beneficial for us to show and to make an announcement to the world that Ghana is open for business, here are the steps, the policies are in place and we have actually, brought a film to our country, and we are going to put our money where our mouth is.
“National Film Authority has done the work and put together a very comprehensive plan to propel Ghana into the forefront. It needs to be robust and competitive with the rest of the world. We believe for sure that Ghana should step up in terms of attracting those filmmakers. I’ve come and seen you and presented to you essentially, just the parameters of what we need to do.”
Idris Elba
President Akufo-Addo assured Idris Elba that the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture is developing a policy framework to guide filmmaking in the country.
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