Mrs Catherine Ablema Afeku, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Wednesday, called for the revival of cinema halls in the country to enable Ghanaians to enjoy movies after a hard day’s work.
She said the practice, would also relieve workers of stress and enhance productivity.
She was speaking at the launch of the Chinese Movie Week Festival, held at the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation’s (GBC) Studio One.
It was launched by the China Movie Channel and would roll between March 12 and 18.
The move is to strengthen the ties between the two countries.
In a speech read for her, the Minster said, the reintroduction of showing movies in the afternoons during break periods for workers would also go a long way to bring down the stress of workers.
Chinese movies, for instance, could be blended with the local movies to help entertain workers during that session.
She assured that the Ministry would inaugurate the Creative Arts Council to promulgate the Creative Arts Bill.
This, she said, would help to provide leverage for film makers as well as support organisers of film festivals.
The Minister said Ghana would work hard to follow China’s steps in terms of their standards in producing movies.
Mrs Afeku thanked China for the privilege given to officers from the Ministry to receive training up to the doctoral level, and expressed the hope that more Ghanaians would continue to receive such training in China.
Madam Sun Baohong, the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, said movies were one of the best ways to learn about the national spirit of a country, as contemporary Chinese movies told the world about the profound Chinese culture and the rapid development achievements.
She said to help Africans better understand the Chinese spirit, the Chinese Government established the China-Africa Film and Television Corporation project in 2012, with annually, 10 drama series and 52 films are translated into Hausa, Arabic, Swahili and other African languages and aired in African Countries.
“We hope that more Ghanaian outstanding movies would be shown in China to let more Chinese learn about Ghanaian culture,” she said.
Mr Cao Yin, the President and Managing Director of China Movie Channel, said film was a bridge that connected people from different cultures.
He said China had more than 9,000 movie theatres, making China the biggest movie industry in the world, with 1.2 billion viewers in China.
Last year alone, the country produced 970 movies, which fetched the industry 8.8 million dollars abroad.
Their platform, he said, did not showcase only Chinese movies but movies from other parts of the world, especially those from Africa.
By so doing, both countries would continue to experience the rich and unique culture, history and customs, thereby strengthening bilateral relations.
The Acting Director of GBC, Mr Augustus Yamson, expressed appreciation to the Chinese Government for the training offered journalists, technicians among other fields, which had improved on its services to the public.
He hinted that Chinese movies would be shown in the course of the annual week celebration.
Seven movies directed by Jackie Chan, including the ‘Silent Witness’, ‘Painted Skin’ and ‘Stolen Years’ were previewed.