The Good Old Days...A legend brought back to life

The Good Old Days - The Love of AA - another Kwaw Kese classic

The National Theatre Friday night, November 19, was just a beautiful sight to behold as Kwaw Ansah's latest work, The Good Old Days - The Love of AA, movie was being premiered.

Prior to the premiere of the much anticipated movie, patrons were treated to the true taste of Ghanaian culture laced with scenes of the good old days.

Kwaw Ansah truly knew the good old days and he did bring them back to life last night.

Mixed with pomp and pageantry, invited guest and patrons were greeted by beautifully dressed 'dipo' girls amidst majestic dance moves that easily caught the eye and excitement of many.

Soon, the National Theatre was filled with anxious people who were more than ready to see another history unfold in their very eyes.

Majestically, Ghana's renowned satirist, Kwaku Sintim-Misa (KSM) walked to the stage to take up the role of MC.

Noted for his mastery when it comes to stage craft and comedy, KSM was instantly at his job. He revealed a tangle between Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, former flag-bearer of the Convention People's Party (CPP) who was also in attendance, and himself on his request to be Nduom's vice presidential candidate.

KSM said Dr Nduom turned that down, rather offering to be a vice presidential candidate to KSM and his Nokofio Party. This drew a lot of laughter from the audience and set the stage for the grand premiere but that was not after a special tribute performance in honour of the late Mac Tontoh who died August this year. Two young talented kids performed a song written by Kwaw Ansah in 1959 for Mac Tontoh and Teddy Osei.



A good movie












A scene from the movie







After that touching performance, it was time for the 'hunger' of the many patrons to be filled.

The Good Old Days – The Love of AA is an intriguing and compelling story of love, family life, childhood mischief and pranks.

It is a complete tragicomedy that is sure to capture the imagination of every viewer and cause people to re-examine their interpersonal relations, which tend to pose a great challenge to society.

The film captures adventures of two families in the 1950s and 1960s caught up in the love web of two teenagers.

The movie is just a beauty and the way the legendary Kwaw Ansah masterfully weaves his way around the theme - love, hatred, peace and sobriety and the essence of peace and unity in the society is simply awesome.

Clearly a legend has been brought back to life.
The movie received huge thumbs up and applauds from the very excited patrons. The scenes, the story and the cast were so real and natural.

Kwaw Ansah in a short speech after the premiere appealed to the government to put measures in place to give the country a national film policy which he said was very vital to the growth of the country's film industry.

He said it was rather unfortunate that after 25 years, the film industry was still chasing the policy to no avail.

The movie interestingly touches on the pulse of the conflict in Dagbon – a war between the Abudus and Andanis.

Kwaw Ansah said Dagbon is an urgent national tragedy and not politics as was being suggested. He called on the nation to come together to resolve the age-old fratricidal conflict.

He hinted that he was already on his next project and will be releasing it soon.

Touching on Kwaw Ansah's comments, Lawyer Mike Oquaye Jnr in an interview with Myjoyonline.com shared the same views adding there are a lot of challenges in the industry.

“There are a lot of challenges in the industry but for me, one of the things I believe in is patronizing the industry. Whether it is foreign entertainment or local entertainment…One area of practice that I am very interested in is the media and entertainment and I feel that this is an area that needs a lot of attention,” he said.

“I was very glad when Uncle Kwaw Ansah said Ghana needs a film policy and he implored parliamentarians, politicians and others to be interested in this area. I think it is something I will personally like to sit down with him, have a chat and take up,” he added.

The premiere was also attended by the Ga Mantse, King Tackie Tawiah III, Nana Osei Bonsu, Chief of Essikado, the Chief of Mampong, Nana Otu Pabi IV and the crew and cast of the movie.

Kwaw Ansah has award winning movies including Love Brewed In An African Pot and Heritage Africa to his credit.

Story by Ernest Dela Aglanu/Myjoyonline.com