Written By: Nana Bonsu—In an effort to appeal to African moviegoers, and distinguish their films in a crowded market flooded by Nigeria’s giant film industry, Nollywood (some reports claim Nollywood releases as many as forty films per week), Ghanaian moviemakers are pushing the boundaries when it comes to film by including steamy sex scenes in their movies. Last year, debate ensued when Raj Films and Heroes Productions’ trailer for Heart of Men, featured, among other things, a shot of actor Majid Michel’s grinding buttocks during a sex scene. Yet, ultimately, the film snagged five African Movie Academy Award nominations. This year, Ghanaian production company Venus Films sparked controversy when it released the trailer for 4Play, which among other things, alluded to a love triangle involving a married couple and the bisexual husband’s male lover. Although public outcry led to some of the sex scenes being edited out of the final movie, when 4Play leaked on YouTube, the combination of soft-porn sex scenes and dialogue laced with f-bombs and n-words to rival a rap song, led viewers to criticize Ghana’s film industry as producing nothing more than just that—profane soft-porn. Drawing comparisons to Nollywood films, commentators on 4Play’s YouTube page remarked, “Sex is being overrated in Ghana movies. We Nigerians don't do such!” and “No disrespect … but seriously … African movies [are] suppose[d] to be respectful [and] real.” Read more about the Nollywood versus Gollywood debate in Cut! Censoring Sex In Ghanaian Movies.
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