Ghana’s past will return to the screen at the University of Media, Arts and Communication’s Institute of Film and Television (UniMAC-IFT), as historic films documenting the country’s political, cultural, and social evolution take centre stage at an event marking the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage. The event is set to take place tomorrow Friday October, 30, 2026 at the Television Studio at UniMAC-IFT.
Among the films scheduled for screening are archival records of Ghana’s independence celebrations, the inauguration of the First Republican Parliament, the opening of Tema Harbour and Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s international engagements. Together, the films offer audiences an opportunity to revisit defining moments in Ghana’s history through the moving images captured by generations of filmmakers and cinematographers.
The event will also welcome veteran cinematographer Rev Dr Chis Hesse as special guest of honour; the keynote address will be delivered by Head of UNESCO office Ghana, H.E. Edmond Moukala. Hesse’s presence carries particular significance given his longstanding role in safeguarding historic film materials that might otherwise have been lost to deterioration, neglect or the passage of time.
For Hesse, the preservation of these films represents more than a technical exercise. It is a commitment to ensuring that future generations can see, hear and understand the people, events and ideas that helped shape Ghana.
The World Day for Audiovisual Heritage,with the theme, ‘Your window to the world, ‘ observed internationally on October 27, highlights the importance of protecting audiovisual materials as records of collective memory and cultural identity. Films, sound recordings, radio broadcasts and other audiovisual documents preserve dimensions of history that written accounts alone may not fully capture. The event perfectly ties in to, the recently launched project , “Digitizing our shared UNESCO history” and it is also a commemoration of the adoption, in 1980 by the 21st General Conference, of the Recommendation for the Safeguarding and Preservation of Moving Images.
At UniMAC-IFT, the planned screening offers a practical expression of that mission, bringing archival materials into public view and reminding audiences that Ghana’s film heritage is a valuable national resource.
Africa Reborn: Birth of the OAU, will be screened while there will be a focus on selected titles like Freedom for Ghana, The Inauguration of the First Republican Parliament, Ghana National Anthem and footage of Nkrumah’s visits abroad. Other titles, including Progress at Akosombo, Industrial Development in Ghana and Roots of Highlife, this points to the breadth of subjects represented in the archive, from political milestones and infrastructure development to music and cultural expressions.
These are not simply old recordings. They are visual documents of a country in transition, capturing the ambitions, achievements, public life and international relationships of an emerging nation.
Footage of the opening of Tema Harbour, for instance, offers a historical window into the development of one of Ghana’s major economic gateways. Films documenting the country’s industrial progress can help audiences examine the development priorities of earlier administrations, while recordings of highlife music preserve aspects of a cultural tradition that continues to influence Ghanaian music today.Just last November highlife music was listed by UNESCO as part of Ghana’s heritage.
The films can also provide valuable resources for researchers, teachers, documentary producers and contemporary filmmakers seeking to understand the country’s history through original visual evidence.
Yet the survival of such materials has never been guaranteed.
Celluloid film, the medium on which many older productions were recorded, is vulnerable to physical deterioration. Preserving it requires careful handling, appropriate storage, specialised equipment and the technical knowledge needed to inspect, restore and transfer the material into durable digital formats.
For years, Rev Dr Hesse has played an important role in safeguarding a collection of Ghana’s historic films, preserving records of the country’s formative years and the political period surrounding independence.
This archive includes footage associated with Dr Nkrumah and the early years of Ghana’s statehood, providing a visual record of events that shaped the country’s identity and its place in Africa’s wider independence movement.
The significance of this work extends beyond the survival of individual films. When audiovisual records disappear, the loss can affect how future generations understand their history. Details of public ceremonies, national celebrations, political speeches, cultural performances and everyday life may be difficult or impossible to reconstruct once the original recordings are gone.
Hesse’s preservation efforts therefore speak to a broader responsibility: ensuring that the historical record remains available to the public rather than surviving only in fragmented accounts or the memories of those who witnessed events firsthand.
The planned screening at UniMAC-IFT creates an opportunity to bring that responsibility into focus. By allowing audiences to encounter historic footage directly, the event can help bridge the distance between generations, connecting young Ghanaians with moments that shaped the nation before many of them were born.
It also draws attention to the work required to keep audiovisual heritage accessible. Preserving a film is only the beginning. The material must also be catalogued, documented, stored securely and made available under appropriate conditions so that it can continue to serve educational, cultural and creative purposes.
For Ghana’s film industry, the value of a well-preserved archive extends into the future. Historic footage can support documentaries, educational programmes, exhibitions and new film productions. It can also help contemporary filmmakers develop stories grounded in authentic images of Ghana’s past.
With appropriate copyright, access and licensing arrangements, archival materials may create further opportunities for creative collaboration and commercial use. This gives preservation both a cultural purpose and a potential economic dimension, particularly as Ghana seeks to strengthen its film industry and expand the contribution of creative work to national development.
The event is therefore not only an invitation to look backwards. It is also an opportunity to consider what Ghana can build from the material it has managed to preserve.
As Hesse joins the UniMAC-IFT gathering as special guest of honour, his story stands as a reminder that protecting national heritage requires foresight, commitment and sustained institutional support. The films scheduled for screening demonstrate what can be recovered when historical materials survive, but they also underline the importance of protecting the wider collection for generations to come.
Ultimately, the significance of the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage lies in the recognition that a nation’s memory exists in more than books and monuments. It also lives in the images and sounds that document how its people lived, celebrated, debated, created and imagined their future.
At UniMAC-IFT, those images are set to return to the screen, offering Ghanaian audiences more than a glimpse of the past. They offer an opportunity to reconnect with the country’s story and to recognise that preserving it is a responsibility shared by institutions, professionals and the public.
