Celebrated Ghanaian filmmaker, Leila Djansi, has shared an unpleasant experience she had with people who did not initially recognize her.
According to her, in 2012, she chose to keep her appearance simple while attending the Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF), which was opened by her film.
Leila said she wore no makeup and adorned herself in comfortable clothes, with looks just like “an ordinary girl passing by.”
“At the hotel sign in table the staff were laughing and chatting. I greeted. No one looked at me. I stepped back and waited until they were done. Ten minutes later one of them finally looked up. ‘Ehe, what?’” she recalled.
It wasn’t until she gave her name that the staff realized who she was. “She leapt up. ‘Our guest of honor. Madam.’ I just shook my head. She tried to be nice the rest of the festival but that door was already closed.”
Meanwhile, the renowned filmmaker sparked a debate among industry players, questioning whether they will continue making excuses for the state of Ghana’s film industry or take action to improve it.
“Good and bad can coexist in anything. But at what point do we stop excusing the bad and start fixing it?” she asked in a Facebook post, calling for a shift from complacency to progress.
Djansi criticized the industry’s reluctance to embrace constructive criticism, urging filmmakers to compare their work with productions from other African countries such as Nigeria, Zambia, Kenya, and South Africa.
“Take two of your most recent critically acclaimed films from the previous three years and compare them to two from Nigeria, Zambia, Kenya, and South Africa. Look at them side by side and ask yourself if we are actually gaining any momentum,” she challenged.
She lamented that since Azali’s Oscar submission in 2018, Ghana’s subsequent entries have not been up to standard.
“In 2018, we got Azali for the Oscars, and since then, every single submission has been a joke. A literal joke. Some of the films would convince you to burn your Ghana card,” she stated.
Djansi stressed that the problem is not a lack of talent but an unwillingness to elevate the industry through hard work and innovation.
Sharing a personal experience, she recalled how a Creative Artists Agency (CAA) agent once critiqued her storytelling approach. Instead of dismissing the feedback, she took it as an opportunity to grow.
“What he actually said to me was, ‘Go take risks with your storytelling.’ I grew up,” she revealed.
She urged filmmakers to stop dismissing criticism as hate or jealousy and instead use it as a tool for improvement.
“Stop enduring mediocrity, please. Instead of these knee-jerk reactions, instead of acting like people just want to hate, forget the who and the how and actually listen. Sit with the criticism. Use it to rise,” Djansi advised.
With her bold remarks, Djansi hopes to ignite a mindset shift in the Ghanaian film industry, pushing creatives to move beyond excuses and take the necessary steps to compete on the global stage.
Responding to a different matter last year, Leila Djansi passionately called for Chef Smith’s cancellation following his admission of fabricating a Guinness World Record. Taking to Facebook, Djansi expressed dismay at the public’s forgiving response to Chef Smith’s apology, arguing that it undermines accountability.
Describing him as a ‘psychopath’, Djansi criticized the way Chef Smith’s actions have diminished the achievements of genuine record holders. She voiced her frustration with social media’s leniency towards him and urged for stronger consequences, likening the situation to biblical principles where mere apologies should not absolve someone from facing repercussions.
Djansi emphasized the importance of holding individuals accountable for deceitful behavior to maintain integrity and prevent future incidents.“I am appalled at how the majority of folks on Ghana social media are comforting and pampering this Chef Smith guy because he apologized! What’s wrong with y’all? Worried about your own skeletons, huh? This is why there’s zero accountability. Cancel this man… How do you fake a Guinness World Record? Trivializing the likes of Wally Funk, Zion Clark, Malala Yousafzai.
“He is a psychopath. How do you make a fool of an entire nation? And I am hearing he is also some sort of sexual deviant. No surprises there. He apologized, so what?
“Someone tarnishes your entire image and gets away with it because they apologized. What on earth! David sinned, confessed, and apologized, yet the child DIED. God took the child,” Leila Dzansi stated
