Some men are uncomfortable with women assuming leadership roles in the movie industry – Ghanaian-American film-maker

Renowned Ghanaian-American film director, Kuukua Eshun, shed light on the obstacles hindering women’s progress in the film production sector.

Eshun revealed that a significant barrier arises from resistance by some men who are uncomfortable with women assuming leadership roles in the movie industry.

Sharing a personal experience, Eshun recalled an incident on set where male cinematographers held a secret meeting without her knowledge to make critical decisions, bypassing her authority as the director.

“The challenge is that I’m a new thing for most people often times I’m working with men who are older than me and a hundred people for a production and 80 per cent or 90 percent are men and older than me and that’s hard.

“I’ve had a production where the men will literally go out and go and have meetings like the cinematographers they bound together and had a meeting without me and wanted to make some technical decisions.

“I was like you are on the set because I hired you…afterwards I called the cinematographers and told them I don’t like what that was. I don’t think you are a bad person but I think that you have to be more aware. I know that you are used to working with men but I am here now and let’s adjust,” she narrated.

She expressed the difficulty of being a pioneering figure in a male-dominated field, where the majority of her colleagues are older men.

Eshun emphasised the importance of unity within the creative community to overcome these challenges.

Addressing the issue of dealing with men attempting to undermine her, she highlighted her confidence and dominant personality, opting to assert herself through feminine leadership rather than resorting to masculine energy.

“I am a very confident woman and a very dominant person and very solid in what I want so I will let them now. I don’t think I would have to tap into masculine energy but I think I will tap into my feminine boss energy and that’s good enough to go.”

Calling for collective action, Eshun stressed the need for creatives in the industry to recognize and believe in the wealth of talent within Ghana and the broader African continent.

“I think that the idea of exposure and community building and uniting and coming together its powerful but if we don’t first of all have to recognise what we have as creative people on the continent in Ghana and believe in what we have.”