THE EYES OF GHANA

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For over six decades, Chris Hesse stood behind the camera, quietly shaping Ghana’s cinematic memory while remaining unseen himself. In the 1950s and 1960s, he served as the personal cameraman to Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s revolutionary leader and a central figure in Africa’s liberation from colonial rule. When Nkrumah was overthrown, rival forces tried to erase his image from history — yet Hesse safeguarded more than 1,300 reels of film, a priceless visual archive that has rarely been shown since. 

Now in his nineties, Hesse steps into the light, passing his legacy to filmmaker Anita Afonu, whose passion for cinema echoes his own. Determined to honor him, she dreams of restoring Accra’s historic Rex Cinema to screen his work for a new generation. Their interwoven journeys form a meditation on memory, resistance, and the power of film to preserve a people’s story.

Directed by two-time Academy Award winner Ben Proudfoot (HIFILM Director-in-Residence), and executive produced by President Barack and Michelle Obama through Higher Ground, the film unites an extraordinary team of artists, including producer Anita Afonu and an original score by Oscar nominee Kris Bowers. Together, they celebrate a visionary whose eyes helped define a nation.