Abdul Salam Mumuni is a veteran Ghanaian filmmaker
Veteran Ghanaian filmmaker Abdul Salam Mumuni has argued that the poor quality of movies premiering in Ghanaian cinemas is one of the main reasons the industry is struggling to keep its audience.
Speaking at the National Film Dialogue on September 16, 2025, held at the Cedi Conference Centre of the University of Ghana under the theme “Accelerating Industry Development,” Abdul Salam Mumuni looked back on how the industry has changed over the years.
He explained that in the past, there was control over which movies were released and when, but that system no longer exists.
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According to him, the lack of regulation has opened the door for almost anyone to shoot a movie and take it straight to the cinema, regardless of quality.
He said that has allowed substandard productions to dominate the big screen, driving audiences away.
He further mentioned that back in the day, filmmakers operated under a structure that ensured only strong productions were released in cinemas, which maintained audience trust and kept the industry vibrant.
According to the veteran filmmaker, now, with no system in place to regulate quality, poor content has become common in cinemas, damaging the reputation of Ghanaian movies.
“Now every producer is relaxed, and you shoot your own content, and then you send it to the cinema. The cinema did not help us because many of the movies that go to the cinema are not very good, so we lost the audience.
“So, I think the cinema also has to play its role in selecting the number of movies that have to come out so that we can control that market. Because in our era, back in the day, it’s not every movie that we allowed to come out. We had control in the market.
“We made sure film one, film two, film three had to come this particular week, we controlled it. But now it’s not like that. Everybody goes to shoot a film and takes it to the cinema. When you send it to the cinema, the more people come to watch and then do not like it, that’s how we lost lots of the audience today,” he stated.
Abdul Salam Mumuni’s comments echo recent sentiments by actress Gloria Sarfo, who also criticised the quality of movies screened in Ghanaian cinemas.
Speaking on GhanaWeb’s weekly X Space on September 12, 2025, she argued that some productions shown in cinemas are not suited for the big screen and would have been better placed on platforms like YouTube.
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