Accra-Ghana, Aug. 23. GNA – The audience was held spell-bound at the screening of the documentary titled: ‘Cocooned in Harmony’ as part of the Chale Wote ‘Film Labs’ session held at the Christianborg Castle Garden, Osu.
The 45-minute film scripted by Eric Debrah Okyere highlights the multi-dimensional role of folk music in the lives of fishermen along the coasts of Ghana.
Released in December 2022, the documentary narrates how songs by local artisanal fishermen reveal their identity, inequality and gender issues, as well as “emotional connections” to the ocean.
The production established, among other things, that music did not only help fishermen overcome fatigue in pulling nets at sea, but also enabled them to vent “bottled-up emotions”.
It emphasised recurring themes such as hardship, love, marriage, childbirth, divorce, witchcraft, belief in God and other supernatural beings, expertly captured in Ewe, Ga, Fante, Nzema, and other local dialect compositions by the fisherfolks.
Ms Mawukplorm Abla Adjahoe, Madinatu Bello, Mr Maxwell Quainoo and Ms Eva Seraphim Tandoh Quansah, played various roles in the documentary, funded by One Ocean Hub, an international programme of research for sustainable development.
Movie fanatics, who attended the show Tuesday evening, described the film as insightful and educative while interacting with some team members.
Ms Adjahoe, responding to questions, said music by fisherfolks, to a large extent, “brings tranquility in a chaotic world of the ocean”.
She explained the project was to explore how fishermen showed their “emotional connection to the sea through music and how music along the coast could help tackle the issue of ocean sustainability”.
The researchers said the activity of “deep fishing” was fading in Ghana, therefore, the film would again serve as a record of the practice for future generations.
Due to the multi-effect of music in the lives of fishermen, the team said the artisans were being encouraged to compose songs on the need to protect the ocean and the livelihood it sustained.
Ms Bello said about 40 different songs had been composed by local fishermen, highlighting issues of ocean pollution to help curb some dangerous practices.
She said the natural musical dexterity of Ghanaian fishermen could help propagate the message of ocean sustainability and contribute to attaining part of the Sustainable Development Goals.
The documentary, she added, had been translated into other local languages and would be screened in other communities subsequently.
