Socrate Safo
Veteran Ghanaian filmmaker, Socrate Safo, has expressed regret over failing to preserve records of his film career, describing it as one of the biggest mistakes he has made in the industry.
The producer, who has made more than 100 films, said he often feels guilty knowing that important materials documenting his contributions to Ghana’s film industry have been lost.
According to him, he did not realise in the early stages of his career that keeping copies of his films, scripts, posters and production documents would one day become valuable historical records.
“I blame myself. I haven’t projected myself and my work well. I blame ignorance because I didn’t receive that orientation from the beginning. I didn’t know to keep all these things for the future. I did not have the guidance to understand that films, scripts, posters and production documents would one day become important historical materials,” he was quoted as saying by Adomonline.
Socrate Safo noted that although many people now know him more as a social commentator, his achievements as a filmmaker are often overlooked because much of his work was not properly documented or promoted.
He revealed that he later tried to retrieve copies of his productions after recognising the importance of preserving them, but by then many of the materials had already been lost.
He urged creatives to take archiving and documentation seriously to ensure that their works are preserved for future generations.