The Government of Ghana’s recent announcement of a 20 million Ghana Cedis fund to support the local movie industry has been met with widespread applause. For an industry that has been fighting to regain its golden years, this massive financial injection from the President and the Finance Minister is a highly praised and deeply appreciated lifeline. However, as the committee sets out to distribute these funds, popular actor and producer Lil Win has raised a critical voice of caution, arguing that the money must go to those who stayed in the trenches, not just those who know how to fill out forms.
Lil Win’s primary argument is that the committee must prioritize the filmmakers who never left. When the Ghanaian movie industry hit a massive slump and many declared it dead, a dedicated group of producers, actors, and crew members refused to give up. They continued to invest their own money, shoot movies, and keep the culture alive while others packed their bags and walked away. Now that government money is on the table, those who abandoned the industry will naturally return to claim a piece of the pie. Lil Win warns that giving funds to these inactive filmmakers is a massive risk, noting that instead of putting the money into actual productions, some might simply pocket it to fund luxury lifestyles, like buying new cars, leaving the industry exactly where it started.
Furthermore, he raised a very practical warning about the distribution process itself. Often, government grants require mountain-loads of paperwork, proposal writing, and complex form-filling. Lil Win rightly points out that many of the most talented, hardworking, and active filmmakers in Ghana, especially within the vibrant Kumawood sector, may not have formal higher education. They are masters of their craft, not masters of bureaucracy. If the committee relies strictly on who can fill out the best forms, the money will end up in the hands of corporate opportunists rather than the actual creatives who know how to make a hit movie. He emphasizes that this money sharing is not about who went to school or who can write, but about those who have actively been working.
While expressing immense gratitude to the President and the Finance Minister for proving they care about the creative arts, Lil Win’s message to the newly formed committee is clear: they must be extremely careful. If this money is shared poorly based on academic credentials or favoritism rather than active contribution, it will breed heavy resentment and some industry players will not be happy at all. To truly revive Ghanaian cinema and create jobs, the 20 million Cedis must be treated as an investment in proven resilience, ensuring the funds go directly to the people who kept the cameras rolling when things were tough.
