All On Board

Xchange Perspectives e.V. (XcP) was once more back in West Africa, working with filmmakers from Sierra Leone, Ghana and Liberia, including the production of six Media for Peace films about issues of concern in all three countries.

• Watch 'Carrying Dreams': The film portrays the life and struggles of a pregnant teenage girl, imprisoned by early child marriage. How can she carry out her dream of going to school, amidst societal stigmatisation? Carrying Dreams is one of six movies produced in 2018, by a group of talented individuals from Ghana, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
  
  
• Watch 'Tribal Zone': The film tells the story of Mawuli, whose love for Afia is threatened by bad blood, that exists between the people of the Ashanti and the Ewes. Mawuli develops a risky plan to make their relationship acceptable in the eyes of Afia's father.
  
  
• Watch 'Xoése': An ex-convict, just out of prison and with high hopes starting life afresh, is met with hostility from her family and the community around her. Will she be drawn into crime, as society does not offer her any other opportunities?
  
  
• Watch 'Up in Alms': The film tells the story of 23-year-old Rachel, who tries to balance taking care of two kids and a disabled mother while coping with life on the streets. She still tries to make her dreams of a better future come true.
  
  
• Watch 'Accra Flowers': The film is an intimate portrait of the hidden world of Bridget, a young immigrant sex worker on the streets of Accra, torn between her dream to become a paediatric nurse and the need to support her family.
  
  
• Watch 'This Ability': The film shows the lives of Paul and George as they cope with obstacles, which the physically-challenged and visually-impaired face on a daily basis, whilst trying to be part of society and achieve their aspirations in life.

The 'All on Board' project started in mid-march 2018 in Accra, Ghana. It brought together filmmakers and aspiring filmmakers from Ghana, Sierra Leone and Liberia, with the aim to produce together fictional and documentary films about crucial social issues in their respective countries. 
 
The project started with a training of trainers for ten participants in Media for Peace and film production, who went on, in the following week, to train over 20 aspiring film makers in the same fields, in Koforidua, Ghana. 
 
'All on Board' trainers and trainees worked for a couple of weeks on producing six films, on issues including prostitution, people with disabilities, forced and early child marriage and tribalism. The films were screened on national TV stations, online, and in different parts of Ghana, Sierra Leone and Liberia through mobile cinema tours. 
 
The participants went back to their countries and carried out Media for Peace and film production trainings in their communities, therefore spreading further the word about positive social change through media.

A project by WELTFILME.org, YMCA Ghana, SLADEA, NAEAL and Xchange Perspectives, with financial support from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and Brot für die Welt.