Guguru Studios, a Nigerian film production company, has been awarded a grant of €80,000 (approximately ₦135 million) to co-produce a musical drama about illegal mining, commonly known as ‘galamsey’, in Ghana. This grant is part of a collaborative effort involving four African production studios.
The four winning companies are Driving Park Limited and AdomiBridge Studios from Ghana, Togo Films from Togo, and Guguru Studios from Nigeria. Guguru Studios is known for its work on films such as the black-and-white fantasy thriller “Mami Water,” written and directed by C.J. Obasi.
The funding for this project was made possible through the financial support of the European Union, in partnership with the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (ACP), the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF), and Creation Africa Ghana, an initiative of the French embassy in Ghana.
The forthcoming film, titled “A Dream To Die For” and written by David Masterwille, will follow a group of young musicians ensnared in the galamsey economy. ‘Galamsey,’ derived from the phrase “gather them and sell,” refers to illegal small-scale gold mining in Ghana.
Juliet Yaa Asantewa Asante, the executive secretary of Ghana’s National Film Authority, emphasized the importance of cross-cultural collaborations in the African film industry. “Co-productions between African filmmakers are vitally important in achieving the growth of the African film industry,” Asante said during the announcement of the co-production agreement.
This initiative is part of a broader push to strengthen pan-African alliances in the creative industry. Previous collaborations, such as the partnership between Nigeria’s Play Network Studios and Namibia’s Mondjila Studios to produce the thriller “The Skeleton Coast,” also shows the growing trend of continental cooperation in filmmaking.
“A Dream To Die For” aims to shed light on the complexities of the illegal mining sector in Ghana while fostering cultural and industry growth through industry collaboration.