CEO of Ghana's National Film Authority, Juliet Yaa Asantewa Asante, has voiced her disappointment over a recent BBC article following Idris Elba’s comments on his plans to move to Africa.

Although the BBC mentioned that Elba made his statement at an “industry event in Accra,” it omitted the specific context—that his remarks were made during the Africa Cinema Summit 2024 held in Ghana's capital.

Asante believes this lack of detail downplays the importance of the event and Ghana’s role in the ongoing dialogue on African cinema and creative arts.

Venting her spleen and disappointment on the matter, Juliet, who is the convener of the Africa Cinema Summit, wrote on Facebook: "It's disingenuous for a global and trustworthy channel like BBC News to not give credit where it's due."

Read her statement below:

”A couple of weeks back, we had the #africacinemasummit in Ghana, at which the headliner was #IdrisElba...

We invited the channel with other channels to have a one-on-one with Idris, as part of the agenda, as Idris is a son of the land and a promotor of African cinema. We set up a place for the interview, made time and give them a chair and room for the interview…

During the interview, Idris makes a number of announcements, including that he is a ‘Ga boy’ and that he is looking to move to Ghana and, of course, be present in all of Africa. Let’s not forget that he is both Ghanaian and Sierra Leonian…

The interview comes out and first, they mention ‘Africa’ as it is one country! My question is, if he had said I will move to the Uk, will they have said Idris plans to move to Europe? Or will they have said he plans to move to Great Britain? Fair enough...

But what really gets to me is that they didn’t even have the dignity to say that he made these comments at the #Acs2024 but they say that he made the comments at an ‘industry event in Accra’!!! Really!!!!? Not intending comparisons but this is truly disrespectful of the summit and the effort. If you had interviewed him at Cannes, would you have said ‘industry event in France?! Or where ever?

We invite you and give you the biggest scoop! This article was the most read article when it came out on your platform and you can’t even give credit where credit is due?

Fair enough... you don’t need to mention the National Film Authority of Ghana or our partners, Silverbird Ghana or the #Nilegroup that worked so hard to get this happen... but to not mention the Africa cinema summit is disingenuous at best for such a global and trustworthy channel...

And to the Ghanaian channel that is also publishing the article without the right acknowledgements... this is how we all get vanished in the end, including yourself

I am choosing to voice out my thoughts on this matter, as it truly speaks to a bigger issue!... and let’s all take a moment to ponder what that bigger issue is...

I have said my piece.

Juliet Yaa Asantewa Asante

(Convener - Africa Cinema Summit, and CEO of the National Film Authority of Ghana).