Socrate Safo: I learnt filmmaking from library books

A prominent figure in Ghallywood and head of Move Africa Productions Socrate Safo, has said that he discovered a filmmaking book and chose to pursue a career in the industry.

Speaking to Keely Jade Brewer on the Between Hours Show on Tuesday (30 April) Safo said, “I chanced on a book on film-making so I read it and that’s how I decided to learn further about film-making.”

He added: “An opportunity to play football moved me to Nkwakwa, after staying there for six months I quit again because the filmmaking calling was too huge for me.”

According to Safo he visited the library every day to fuel his passion for filmmaking.

“So every day I will go to the library to read books on film-making from Padmore library to the British Library to the Accra library.”

He noted that he later shot his first film Unconditional Love in 1987.

“I go there and I read books on filmmaking. So after building the passion for all this while and I was able to shoot my first film Unconditional Love in 1987 and released it on 3 May 1988.”

“I wrote the script for Unconditional Love on a piece of paper, just outlines. And in my first film my father didn’t show me which scared me and made me sad but after the film was over I heard a loud applause from the crowd. I remember shedding tears.”