I don’t hate Twi movies – Martha Ankomah

Movie star Martha Ankomah has noted she has nothing against movies shot in local languages.

She was clearing the air concerning an ill-informed notion held by some she dislikes the rural and Akan/Twi-led movie scene in Kumasi called Kumawood.

Ms Ankomah spoke exclusively to Prince Benjamin (PB) on Accra 100.5 FM’s Entertainment Capital. She was asked why she had never appeared in a Kumawood movie.

“It is when you’re contracted that you take up a gig,” she answered.

“And sometimes, also, you need to examine the storyline and the script. If I read the story and I don’t like it, I wouldn’t want to be part of it. Otherwise, why not, I’ll jump on it.

PB probed if she had ever been offered a Kumawood gig before.

“As I told you, the storyline is most important to me,” she emphasised, in response.

Thereafter, she pointed to a time she went to work on a movie in Kumasi, Ashanti Region, where Kumawood is based.

“Some time ago, it’s been quite a while, I travelled with Sammy [Rasta], the movie director – he wears dreadlocks, and works with Radio XYZ – to Kumasi, to work on a movie,” the entrepreneur said, rhetorically asking: “Did I not shoot the movie in Kumasi? It’s all about the storyline.”

The philanthropist observed Netflix collaborates, funds and hosts Nigerian movies in Yoruba and Igbo with subtitles provided. The storyline is, however, king, she argued.

“It’s all about the storyline, is it not? It’s all about the picture quality. It’s all about the production,” she added.

Martha maintained, factually, when she visited Accra 100.5 FM’s Ayekoo Ayekoo, in October 2023, and said she eschews movie roles that make no sense, she did not mention or intend Kumawood. In the said interview with Akua Sonto, she, and Peter Richie, said it was a rule they used for all their local and international considerations for roles.

“If it does not challenge you mentally, inspire positive change and cause development in the country, there’s no point being part of it. That’s my opinion,” Martha explained.

According to her, per the time mark provided, she had recently rejected a role in a Nigerian movie. “I was bold enough to tell the person who sent the script that the story doesn’t make sense. I was straightforward, and I have said that to many producers also,” she said.

Perhaps, the only recorded time Martha Ankomah famously named Kumawood in an interview was in 2017, speaking to Hitz FM, when she spoke about her fondness for Kumawood movies, revealed a favourite to be the Samuel Nyamkye-directed movie Kumasi Yonko (2002), and lamented, however, the focus, by some Kumawood filmmakers, on fetish practices and witchcraft.

“I love Kumawood movies but what I dislike about their movies is the fetish stuff they inculcate into them. Apart from that, I love their storylines and they used to have really good movies like Kumasi Yonko, but, of late, most of their movies portray witchcraft and that does not motivate me to shoot with them,” she said.

Martha shot down allegations she declined to appear in Kumawood actor and producer LilWin’s 'A Country Called Ghana'.