Zinabu is a 1987 Ghanaian film directed by William Akuffo and Richard Quartey. Zinabu tells the story of a witch converting to Christianity.
The film was shot in 1985 using a video camera, rather than a film camera. Video was a relatively new medium at the time, but Akuffo recognised the advantage that video footage had over film, as film celluloid was more expensive and presented challenges for distribution. Zinabu became the first Ghanaian movie to be produced on video.
During the production of Zinabu, the Ghanaian government introduced a ban on video, in an attempt to curb the negative effect they thought unlicensed American and Chinese films were having on Ghanaian culture. This ban was lifted in 1987, largely due to the work of Akuffo.
The film received its premiere at the Globe Cinema. The screening was designed to imitate a normal film screening: the video player was not visible to the audience, and Akuffo was in the projection room.
Bibliography:
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Haynes, Jonathan (2010). “What is to be done? Film studies and Nigerian and Ghanaian videos”. In Mahir Saul and Ralph A. Austen (ed.). Viewing African Cinema in the Twenty-First Century: Art Films and the Nollywood Video Revolution. Ohio University Press. pp. 45–47. ISBN 978-0-8214-1931-1.
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Sutherland-Addy, Esi (2000). “The Ghanaian feature video phenomenon: Thematic concerns and aesthetic resources”. In Kofi Anyidoho and James Gibbs (ed.). FonTomFrom: Contemporary Ghanaian Literature, Theatre and Film. Rodopi. p. 283. ISBN 90-420-1273-0.
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Ukadike, N. Frank (2003). “Video booms ƶand the manifestations of ‘first’ cinema in anglophone Africa”. In Wimal Dissanayake and Anthony Guneratne (ed.). Rethinking Third Cinema. Routledge. p. 222. ISBN 978-1-134-61323-6.