Yemoh Ike and Director Amartei Armar
Ghanaian feature film, Ego Reach We All (Our Time Will Come), has earned an official nomination to premiere at the 79th Locarno Film Festival, a major milestone for Ghanaian cinema and African storytelling on the international stage.
Written and directed by Amartei Armar and produced by Yemoh Ike, the 105-minute drama is a feature-length adaptation of Amartei’s award-winning 2018 short film, ‘Vagabonds’.
The original short received international acclaim after winning at the Montreal World Film Festival, an Oscar-qualifying festival, paving the way for the development of the feature film.
Shot entirely in Ghana with a local cast and crew, ‘Ego Reach We All’ was completed in France during post-production, reflecting a successful collaboration between Ghanaian filmmakers and international partners while maintaining its Ghanaian identity.
The project has attracted significant international recognition throughout its development. It won the Cannes Focus CoPro Award and received support from the Red Sea Development Fund, the Red Sea Souk Award and the Red Sea Productions Fund, establishing itself as one of Africa’s most promising film projects.
Beyond its festival achievements, the film has also benefited from several renowned international development programmes.
Director Amartei Armar was selected for the Heyazah Screening Lab in Doha, while producer Yemoh Ike participated in the 2023 EAVE Producers Programme under the CNC scholarship, with training sessions held in Luxembourg, Austria and the Netherlands. Most recently, the project was selected for the 2025 Atlas Workshop in Marrakesh, Morocco.
The film stars Idrissu Tontie, Dorothy Adobea Tandoh, Emmanuel Wilberforce, Barbara Yong Jin, Emmanuel Owusu Ofori, O’Bryan Kwame Enyan, Gabriel Narh Addo, Nelly Bilson and Kwame Brenya.
The official selection of ‘Ego Reach We All’ for the prestigious Locarno Film Festival is a landmark achievement for Ghana’s film industry. It highlights the strength of Ghanaian filmmaking, with the production proudly showcasing local talent while bringing authentic African stories to a global audience.