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The movie was filmed in Ghana in some of the historically significant locations like Achimota School and the Usher Fort Prison while paying homage to Fanti culture, Ghana is a country located along the Gulf of Guinea and Atlantic Ocean .The country has three neighboring countries, Ivory Coast in west, Burkina Faso in north, Togo in east and Gulf of Guinea and Atlantic Ocean to the south.
Ghana means "Warrior King" in Soninke language, the country dates back to the 11th century, it had a number of kingdoms and empires over the centuries and the most powerful of all was the Ashanti Kingdom.
It was colonized by the British in the late 19th century, though with much resistance from the natives. The country became independent on 6 March 1957.
From the census, Ghana has a population of 30Miliion people, Majority of them being Christians with a small Muslim population and other traditional faiths. Ghana is a democratic country led by the president who is both head of state and Government.
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1 July 1960 Ghanaian presidential election were held and Kwame Nkrumah became the first president. At the time of independence Nkrumah declared, "My first objective is to abolish from Ghana poverty, ignorance, and disease. We shall measure our progress by the improvement in the health of our people; by the number of children in school, and by the quality of their education; by the availability of water and electricity in our towns and villages; and by the happiness which our people take in managing their own affairs.
The government of Nkrumah was subsequently overthrown by a coup by the Ghana Armed Forces codenamed "Operation Cold Chop." Below is a trend graph which shows the different political and military powers who ruled Ghana up to date.
Ghana is Africa's second-biggest gold producer (after South Africa) and second-largest cocoa producer. It is also rich in diamonds, manganese ore, bauxite, and oil. Ghana is also known for
The main actor Kwesi (Sunday-born) Atta (a twin) Bosomefi (an illustrious ancestor has been reborn) identifies himself with the British who are running his country, he was intrigued by the British culture he ended up changing his name to Quincy Arthur bosornfield. The movie starts by demonstrating the segregation imposed by the British when school kids a caught trying to steal mangoes from a field, which was owned by minority white family's .We can also see the British colonials had changed their faith when he whips his son mercilessly for observing a traditional festival and describes it as heathen meaning they had abandoned their tradition African believes .At an early stage children are taught using the British education system. Bosomfield embraces English culture in all forms, rising within the colonial administration to become an African district commissioner which is a rare opportunity for the African Men and Women and member of the black educated "elite." In the process, he abandons his African heritage and all that has real meaning to him, to the point that we see him humiliate his mother and give away a treasured family heirloom. This demonstrates a true disintegration of his African identity. Colonist also brought division in society, in the movie we can see the governor asking Quincy whether he had given the usual incentives, which meant bribes to officials who were used as spies by the colonial government to infiltrate the opposition party
The struggle for independence and liberation are some of the key focus in the movie. The fictional characters account of the actions that made Ghana the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to govern itself, involving a young- Kwame Akroma and his youthful liberation movement, going against the establishment of which the protagonist Quincy Arthur Bosomfield is a key player, being the highest ranked native officer in government; "one of us" as he is described.
The struggle for better society turns lethal as we can see the natives organizing themselves and requesting for an audience with the governor since they had taken their grievances to the district commissioner earlier but it fell on deaf ears however, Bosomfield's allegiances lie with his white master. He does not believe in the demands of his people for "self-government now". He refuses to understand why anyone would want to disturb the colonial order from which he is a beneficiary. This is a huge source of tension between the major groups of characters in the story. The conflict bleeds into the other major conflict, which is his weak African identity because he has discarded his African heritage.
The movies portrays various acts of betrayal.First the son of Quincy is punished seriously by his dad. later he develops medical complication which has a cure, but sadly leads to his demise .Bosofield seems less bothered we see him leaving the burial before his son is laid to rest due work . We also see officials killing one of their own for refusing to take a bribe .Quincy refuses to listen to grievances raised by the natives who is supposed to be representing.
The main character, Quincy Bosomfield, originally Kwesi Atta Bosomefi, represents the elite in Ghanaian society who fall in love with the British culture in order to exorcise the Africanism .He was an outstanding scholar in the colonial Ghana, Bosomfield chooses to serve the white man for his selfish agenda rather than his people. His character represents the colonial policy of slowly bring the African into their own government, when the people they put there have forgotten that they are African. As the film shows, they were mere puppets and existed only to exult the greedy Europeans and their imperialist policies. The film also advocates for the appreciation and respect for African culture. The symbol of the reclamation of Bosomfield's family totem should be a clarion call to African to hold dear what is inherently their and protect it against exploitation.
Heritage Africa is accurate in predicting the future. Sixty years after the period in which the film was set has passed, one can see many more Kwesi Bosomefis transforming in Quincy Bosomfield at an increasingly alarming rate.
· Kswesi Atta Bosomefi - first black District Commissioner, an anglicized Cambridge man so dedicated to his duties that he refuses to attend his mortally ill son showing the he is not remorseful to the African people.· Governor is an old Man who is in charge of the colonial agenda. He doesn't seem to trust Synper during the demonstration , he is also corrupt as he bribes the leaders of different factions through Kswesi Atta Bosomefi. Snyper appears bullish and does not like the black people, we see him shooting innocent people during a demonstration outside the Governor's office. Kwame Nkrumah is the main rival to the colonial rule in the movie, is the leader in the 'Association of Freedom'. He Organizes demonstration opposing the colonial government.
The Movies tries to look at the influence of the colonial government in an African setup. It brings out the social injustice caused the colonial rule i.e. poor medical services as the we can see the son of kwesi dies due to lack of proper medical attention, kwesi is the only high ranking official who is black meaning the rest are doing low level jobs and struggling to make ends meet:
It's a reflection of the African culture and how the colonial government established a system that tries to abolish most of African heritage/believes with the introduction of religious setup. It rewards those who are in agreement with system and shuns those who are against the system. We don't seem to have an ideal/perfect situation on both side of each culture, the need to be able to balance on key issues such as economics, political and social ideas, in order to have a thriving society.
Basic Thems of the Heritage Africa Movie. (2019, Dec 02). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/basic-thems-of-the-heritage-africa-movie-essay
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