《 Eyes of Ghana 》 Released on October 28: 93-year-old photographer keeps more than 1,000 rolls of historical film

What was so dangerous about those films that they had to be destroyed?%The trailer of the documentary《The Eyes of Ghana》(tentative translation) posed this question to an old man who has saved film films for decades.Canadian director Ben Proudfoot’s new film will beOctober 28Released in some theaters in the United States, the film shows 93-year-old photographer Chris Hesse preparing to hand over the history of Ghana he has recorded to the next generation.

When Hesse was young, he was appointed as the personal photographer of Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana.The end of British colonial rule and the turbulent process of the country's struggle for sovereignty have all entered his camera.For about ten years, he continued to work with Nkrumah and left behind a large number of images.

In 1966, a coup supported by the CIA ousted Nkrumah, and Hesse's films were burned. The outside world once thought that all these records had disappeared.But he still savedMore than 1,000 volumesfilm.This batch of materials, which have not yet been fully displayed to the public, constitutes the largest existing video archive of Ghana's liberation process.

《Eye of Ghana 》 follows Hesse in his later years as he compiles and talks about these records, and also takes photos of how he looks for young people who can take over the job.DOC NYC's film introduction describes it as a love letter to Ghanaian cinema: the history in the lens was once recorded by a young man, and now the preserver is 93 years old. Both the precious film and his personal experience need to be protected by someone.

Director Proudfoot has directed - Rwanda & Juliet - (tentative translation), and filmed a number of short documentaries and - New York Times - Op-Docs.He is good at turning the camera on less visible characters, and two of his short films on this subject won Oscars.He met Hesse by chance, and later discovered that they were both deeply attached to video recording.

The film is co-produced by Higher Ground and Breakwater Studios, with Barack Obama and Michelle Obama serving as executive producers, and IShowSpeed also participating in the project.The producer list includes Ben Proudfoot, Nana Adwoa Frimpong, Anita Afonu, Moses Bwayo, Brandon Somerhalder and Darren Watkins.

《Ghana Eyes》 premiered in the TIFF Docs section of the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. This time, Breakwater Studios arranged a limited theatrical release in the United States.A new trailer and two posters have been released, and the streaming media release will be after the theatrical release. The specific date has not yet been announced.