Ghanaian actor Adjetey Anang, popularly known as Pusher, says he supports Nollywood actress Omotola Kalade-Ekeinde’s view when she urged the western film industry to stop casting Black Americans as Africans in their movies.
According to him, there is a need to bridge the gap since there are equally African-born actors and actresses who are talented and more followed than those in the west.
“I totally support her and I think they should begin to explore native Africans. I think it’s important they use our people. One may say they use known faces of African Americans due to commercial purposes, I get but then again how are we elevated onto the global stage if we don’t use our natives?”
He explained that budget is a great factor hindering the film space in Africa otherwise the world would have had a different picture of the continent.
Speaking in an interview on Adom TV’s Showtyme with Andy Dosty, the Things We Do For Love star said it is about time Africans portray their history.
“At the end of the day, they determine the shots because they have the money. That means we should have investors in our industry to push big budgets. If it’s about us, we need to project ourselves, but I think it’s about time they explore our talented actors and actresses.
“In the spirit of globalisation, we shouldn’t close all windows,” he said.
Meanwhile, speaking with Joy Entertainment at the Women of Valour event, Omotola asked western filmmakers not to portray Africans as different people and encouraged Africans to stand up for themselves.
“The west also needs to understand our complexity and be a little more open to working with us. When you have roles for Africans, stop casting Americans as Africans. It makes no sense,” she said.
Reacting to this, Mr Anang said having western actors and filmmakers present in Africa will boost the film fraternity entirely.
“Boris Kodjoe, and Idris Elba, all want to do something here. It will be nice to see Samuel Jackson on a project here. There is a need to have that relationship so that we are not cut entirely. They have their fanbase that we can gain from commercially to strengthen our base. Collaboration is good, but they need to give us that to portray our history.”
Additionally, he asked the western film industry to pay mind to accents when it comes to movies throwing light on Africa.
“They are advanced in tech and film, but I don’t even think they are perfect. They have issues when it comes to language. We West Africans have a way we talk. We all have a slightly distinct accents. They generalize it, which is wrong.
“It comes from a specific place and accent place a role when you are talking about someone’s story and history. That is why they need to explore some of these things and get the characterisation right.”
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