I remember when I was growing up, it was quite common to hear about communal farming. Where a whole farming village would form a group and take turns to work in each other’s farms. The benefit of this approach was that, once a group of people work on a particular farm, they are able to achieve more. So the work that might take one farmer a week to complete can be completed in a day or two. This means that time, energy and resources are effectively managed and a lot achieved in a shorter time.
This is something young filmmakers must learn from. It is only wise that we recognize, unless we are united and willing to support each other we are not going to achieve much. Yes, one or two filmmakers will make some headlines, but many more will die away. Making a film by one person is very hard, collaborating is better. African film makers must think communal working, even in America; film makers hold hands and rise. Collaboration is not always about money; it can be a combination of energy and intellectual endeavors; script reading, feedback, sharing of ideas, etc. What I mean is let’s create a community of filmmakers, members of this community can put their film up on the ‘list’ and try to encourage others within the community to help you in your aim. It might be writing, casting, directing, editing, sound or anything else you might need help with. Filmmaking is not an Olympic competition where one person must finish first and another last. We can all hold hands and together cross the finish line. In collective communal filmmaking you will be amazed at the capacity to sustain, and how much power is within each other.
Often times when you are educated badly, you do not understand the collective communal power of art, you really think it’s one person who makes art. Those with whom you choose to collaborate, if you make good choices, can elevate the quality and content of your film to a much higher plane than any one mind could imagine on its own.
Nana Yaw Yeboah 