Socrate Safo, the former chairman of the Classification Committee of the National Film Authority has shed light on the work his team did for film classification.
According to him, during his tenure, the team took steps to sensitise film practitioners about the need to classify films.
He told Doreen Avio on Daybreak Hitz that his team classified “over 300 movies.”
Socrate therefore lauded the initiative by the newly-appointed Executive Secretary of the National Film Authority, Kafui Danku-Pitcher to continue with the classification.
A press release signed by the Executive Secretary Kafui Danku-Pitcher states: “In accordance with the Development and Classification of Film Act, 2016 (Act 935), the National Film Authority (NFA) reminds all filmmakers and exhibitors that all films intended for public exhibition in Ghana must be classified by the NFA.”
According to the law, “a person shall not exhibit or cause to be exhibited a film unless the film has been passed and classified by the NFA.”
The release also indicates that this regulation aims to streamline, develop, and uphold standards in Ghana’s growing film ecosystem, and applies to feature films, short films, trailers, TV series, documentaries, adverts, music videos and other audio-visual content exhibited in cinemas, on television, online streaming platforms, or in any public space.
Stakeholders of the film industry are to “note that effective 1st May 2025, a new enforcement measure will be applied to the film classification process: Every producer, distributor or exhibitor submitting content for classification must hold a valid Film Producer / distributor / exhibitor licence issued by the NFA.”
The Film Classification Committee was a body formed by the National Film Authority and mandated by the Development and Classification of Film Act 935 to preview and classify any audio-visual content intended for public exhibition in Ghana.
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