Ghanaian movie makers are constantly complaining about the influx of foreign telenovelas into our industry and the detrimental effect that is having on them.
And the problem is not limited to Ghana, as Nollywood actress Patience Ozorkwor herself has confirmed.
Speaking during a recent trip to Ghana, Ozorkowor said the Nigerian industry is facing basically the same problem and that there are no easy solutions to the conundrum.
‘‘We have the same problem with Zee World and Telemundo. It’s really eating into the industry…what it means is that we are facing challenges and so now, we need to do something that will make our people come back to us. You can’t force them because it’s a market; everybody goes for what they want. We need to also find out why they have thrown our own away,’’ she said.
According to Ozorkwor, the serialized nature of the soaps make them addictive and thus the Ghanaian industry and Nollywood have to give out such stories.
The Nollywood movie legend continued; ‘‘one thing I have personally observed is that these telenovelas are telling serial stories. If you watch it, you would want to watch the next episode so people are usually eager to watch what will eventually happen to this character. So if that’s what people want, we start doing it for them. We need to tell serious-minded stories.
“They (telenovela characters) don’t act well. Their costuming is even wrong. What they criticize us for is exactly what they are doing. So why are people dropping us and watching what they are criticizing? For example, you can see someone who goes to bed fully made up and in a flashy dress and wakes up and still runs around with that. It makes me wonder why people are not talking about that. That means people are not watching those things; they are actually only interested in the storyline.” she added.