28th Feb Shooting Incident Immortalised In Film

By Stephen K. Effah
Saturday, 01 March 2008

AN animated film on the three Ghanaian ex-servicemen gunned down by a British colonial police officer on February 28, 1948, whose deaths marked a turning point in the independence struggle, is expected to be premiered on July 1, in Accra.

The 60-minute cartoon film was outdoored on Thursday, to mark the 60th anniversary of the incident.

It is aimed at presenting the event from the perspective of some of the veterans who witnessed it, to the children and the youth in an interesting manner.

Produced by Parable Productions, advocates of students and children’s literature through folklore, "28 February-Crossroads" forms part of a National Heroes project by the company to revisit some significant events in Ghana’s history in an animated form.

The film begins with the normal life of the three veterans Sergeant Adjetey, Corporal Attipoe and Private Odartey Lamptey through to their gunning down on February 28 at the Osu (Christiansborg) Castle.They were on their way to present a petition on their conditions of service to the then governor of the Gold Coast.

The three who fought with their allied forces during the Second World War, were former members of the Gold Coast Regiment of the Royal West African Frontier Force.

Soundtrack for the film, which is in production, was chosen from the 1940s and 1950’s classic tunes including that of the legendary E. T. Mensah — Ekuusen baadon, "Tea, tea, tea" as well as Ephraim Amu’s Yen ara asase ni.

Also, the company is working on similar animated films, "Tetteh Quarshie and the Golden Pod", "Asantewaa — The Making of a Kingdom" and "The Pride of Adinkra" among others.
It will also come out with a 30 minute TV series on children called Akwaaba.

Speaking to Times Weekend, Cecil Jones Abban, President of Parables Productions, said it was about time that historical events of the country are explored and presented in an interesting manner to the youth.

He expressed regret that most of the historical events and stories about the country’s heroes are left for foreigners to tell which should not be the case, adding that most of the heroes were resourceful, thus good role models to project for the children to learn from.

The company needs about GH¢200,000 to finish the work on the animated cartoon and called for the support of all stakeholders and corporate organisations to support the project.

Mr Abban underscored the need for the country to recognise animated movies since it has the potential to earn the country huge sums of money and at the same time create awareness about pertinent moral issues.