On Moderating “Oil Promises”, A Film about Ghana’s Oil Discovery
On the 26th of January, I was invited to moderate the after-screening conversation of “Oil Promises”, a film that looks at Ghana’s aftermath of oil discovery in 2007.
The film focuses on the inhabitants of the coastal town known as Princess Town, directly connected to the offshore where the oil was discovered.
Oil Promises was realised by filmmaker Elke Sasse, journalist Andrea Stäritz and motion graphics animator, Ebele Okoye.* It was produced by Berlin Producers Media and backed by Deutsch Welle as well as other German-based foundations, Heinrich Böll Stiftung and the Stiftung Deutsche Klassenlotterie Berlin. **
The film was realised within ten years. This already makes it an incredible feat and lends its most overt credibility. Over the said period, Elke Sasse and Andrea Stäritz made trips back and forth to research, interview and film dwellers of Princess Town, Ghana.
The Premise of the film
The narrative of the film is hinged on mainly two pivots:
1. Ghana discovered its first oil in 2007. They have high hopes on how this will improve the economy and consequently better the lives of its citizens through the construction of modern infrastructures, roads, schools, etcetera. The most direct…
