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For a contemporary film, choose The Eyes of Ghana. It follows 93-year-old Chris Hesse, Kwame Nkrumah’s personal cinematographer, and filmmaker Anita Afonu as they work to rescue and repatriate a major archive of footage from African independence movements. The 2025, 90-minute U.S./Ghana/U.K. production is in English, Twi and Ga, with theatrical play advertised from October 28, 2026.
For a concise period account of Nkrumah’s first years in power, choose The Black Star (Der schwarze Stern). This 1965, 36-minute color cinema-verité film covers Ghana’s first five years of independence. The other films serve different purposes: Ghana Today offers a shorter 1960 development-and-conference snapshot, Freedom 1957: Ghana frames the independence struggle broadly, and the National Archives’ And Now Tomorrow, 1957 provides near-contemporaneous independence-day narration.
Quick comparison
There is no authoritative numerical ranking for these films. “Best” depends on whether you want a current archive-recovery story, a compact Nkrumah-era portrait, an early post-independence snapshot or primary-era newsreel language.
| Film | Date and length | Best use | Language and access notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Eyes of Ghana | 2025; 90 minutes | A present-day story connecting Chris Hesse, Nkrumah and endangered independence footage | English, Twi and Ga; theatrical and festival availability changes; theatrical play advertised from October 28, 2026 |
| The Black Star (Der schwarze Stern) | 1965; 36 minutes | The most compact directly Nkrumah-centered account of Ghana’s first five independence years | German; no subtitles listed; DEFA Film Library lists a PAL DVD |
| Ghana Today (Ghana heute) | 1960; 21 minutes | Early post-independence development and the 1960 All-African Conference in Accra | German; no subtitles listed; a DVD listing uses NTSC |
| Freedom 1957: Ghana | Date and runtime not stated on the archive page | A broad overview of the independence struggle and March 6, 1957 | Language, runtime and retail availability are not stated on the cited archive page |
| And Now Tomorrow, 1957 | 1957 newsreel/documentary; transcript available | Near-contemporaneous independence-day narration and imagery | The National Archives transcript is the directly citable record; retail availability is not established |
Which documentary should you watch?
Choose The Eyes of Ghana for a contemporary feature
This is the strongest choice if you want to understand why Ghana’s independence images still matter now. Its central relationship is between Chris Hesse, who served as Nkrumah’s personal cinematographer, and filmmaker Anita Afonu. Their effort to rescue and repatriate a large film archive makes preservation part of the story rather than treating historical footage as a decorative illustration.
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The film is listed by Film at Lincoln Center as a 2025 production made in the United States, Ghana and the United Kingdom. Its 90-minute running time gives it room to connect personal testimony, filmmaking history and the practical problem of recovering material documenting African independence. The listed languages—English, Twi and Ga—also make it the most linguistically accessible option in this group for many viewers, although subtitles and screening terms depend on the venue.
The official site advertises theatrical play beginning October 28, 2026. That is a planned date, not a guarantee of a screening in every city. Festival bookings, theatrical runs and educational access can change, so check the current venue or rights-holder listing before planning a screening.
Choose The Black Star for a short historical account centered on Nkrumah
The Black Star (Der schwarze Stern) is the most efficient period film for a viewer who wants Ghana’s first five independence years in one sitting. The DEFA Film Library catalogs it as a 1965, 36-minute color cinema-verité documentary about Ghana under President Kwame Nkrumah.
Its short length is an advantage for classroom use, a double feature or a first pass before reading longer histories. It is also a limitation: a 36-minute film cannot provide the breadth of a full political biography or a complete account of the independence movement. The catalog record lists the film in German without subtitles and notes DVD availability in PAL format. A PAL disc may require compatible equipment or playback software outside PAL territories; the listing does not establish current stock, price or region-free playback.
Choose Ghana Today as a shorter companion
Ghana Today (Ghana heute) is a 1960, 21-minute black-and-white Ghana/GDR documentary. It portrays Ghana in the first years after independence and includes the 1960 All-African Conference in Accra.
Rank #2
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It works best alongside The Black Star, not as a substitute for it. The two films come from different moments: Ghana Today is close to the events it depicts, while The Black Star looks back after five years of independence. The catalog record lists German audio without subtitles and a DVD listing in NTSC format. As with any physical release, the format notation does not establish that a disc will play on every television, computer or game console.
Choose Freedom 1957: Ghana for a struggle-focused overview
The Initiatives of Change USA Archive describes Freedom 1957: Ghana as an in-depth film about Ghana’s fight for independence, achieved on March 6, 1957, under Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. That framing makes it the natural choice when the question is “How did Ghana reach independence?” rather than “What happened during the first five years afterward?”
The archive page was posted April 28, 2022. It does not supply a runtime, language or retail availability, so those details should not be inferred from the title or from other films in the comparison. Treat the archive record as the basis for the film’s subject and historical framing, then verify current viewing arrangements with the archive.
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The National Archives’ transcript for And Now Tomorrow, 1957 preserves language recorded at the moment of independence. The narrator says: “One second past midnight, March 6, 1957. The moment has come. Here in West Africa, a nation is born. Ghana is free.” The transcript continues: “Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumah, his cap symbolizing prison sentences served in the struggle for independence, leads the rejoicing.”
This is not the same kind of recommendation as a modern feature or a cataloged 36-minute documentary. Its value is contemporaneity: it shows how Ghana’s independence was presented to audiences at the time. The transcript is the directly citable National Archives record. The archive entry does not establish a current commercial release, so it is safest to look for access through archival or educational collections rather than assume a retail copy exists.
Rank #3
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What each film contributes to the history
The independence moment: March 6, 1957
Ghana became independent on March 6, 1957. In the National Archives narration, Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumah leads the celebrations and the event is presented as the birth of a free nation. That contemporaneous wording is valuable evidence of the public meaning attached to the date, while a modern film such as The Eyes of Ghana can examine how the images of that era survived—or failed to survive—for later generations.
The first five years under Nkrumah
The Black Star is specifically cataloged as covering Ghana’s first five years of independence under Nkrumah. It therefore occupies the middle ground between an independence-day record and a present-day archival investigation. Its 1965 production date places it within the early post-independence period, rather than decades after the political transition.
Development and Pan-African gathering
Ghana Today adds a perspective that the other short films do not duplicate: early post-independence development and the 1960 All-African Conference in Accra. That conference focus broadens the subject from Ghana’s constitutional break with British rule to Ghana’s role as a meeting place for African political ideas.
Film institutions as nation-building tools
Ghana’s own film infrastructure is part of the historical explanation. Ghana’s Ministry of Tourism, Culture & Creative Arts states that the Gold Coast Film Unit screened documentary films and newsreels. In 1964, Nkrumah established the Ghana Film Industry Corporation (GFIC) to build indigenous filmmaking capacity.
A 2021 article in the Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television discusses GFIC and documentary film as part of Nkrumah’s Pan-Africanist project. This context helps explain why film mattered politically: documentaries and newsreels were not merely records of events; they were tools for communicating national development and a broader African political identity.
Rank #4
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Earlier archival material
The Smithsonian Human Studies Film Archives catalogs approximately five minutes of silent, black-and-white 16mm footage from around 1954 in Accra. The material includes domestic life and Nkrumah at political rallies. It is archival context rather than a consumer documentary recommendation, but it shows that moving-image records of Ghana’s political life predate independence by several years.
A television-era account
The American Archive of Public Broadcasting catalogs One nation indivisible; Ghana as a 1958 episode of a documentary series. The record describes Ghana as the first African nation to achieve independence in the British Commonwealth, notes the country’s distinctive problems and identifies Nkrumah as the featured prime minister. Its sound duration is 30:04.
This episode can serve as a bridge between the 1957 independence-day record and the longer post-independence films. Because the catalog entry supplies a duration and description but not a general consumer release, access should be checked through the archive rather than assumed.
How to choose by viewing purpose
| Your purpose | Best starting point | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You want a current feature with a human archive-recovery story | The Eyes of Ghana | It follows Chris Hesse and Anita Afonu while connecting personal memory to endangered independence footage. |
| You have less than an hour and want Nkrumah-era coverage | The Black Star | Its 36-minute runtime covers the first five independence years. |
| You need a very short companion for a class or program | Ghana Today | At 21 minutes, it adds development and the 1960 Accra conference. |
| You want the independence struggle rather than the aftermath | Freedom 1957: Ghana | The archive description explicitly centers the fight for independence. |
| You want language and framing from the independence era itself | And Now Tomorrow, 1957 | The National Archives transcript records the contemporaneous narration of March 6, 1957. |
| You are tracing film history and state communication | The Eyes of Ghana plus the GFIC context | The modern archive story can be read alongside Ghana’s state-supported film institutions. |
A practical viewing sequence
A sequence is more useful than treating the films as interchangeable. The following order moves from the event itself to its immediate aftermath and then to the problem of preserving the record.
- Start with And Now Tomorrow, 1957. Use the National Archives transcript to establish the midnight independence moment and the contemporary description of Nkrumah leading the celebrations.
- Watch Ghana Today. Its 1960 setting shows the country a few years into independence and includes the All-African Conference in Accra.
- Watch The Black Star. Its 1965 perspective covers the first five years as a more sustained Nkrumah-centered account.
- Add Freedom 1957: Ghana if your focus is the road to independence. Because the archive description emphasizes the struggle, it fills the chronological gap before the 1957 celebration.
- Finish with The Eyes of Ghana. The modern film turns attention to Hesse, Afonu and the preservation and repatriation of the footage on which future histories may depend.
Language, format and availability pitfalls
Do not assume a German-language film has subtitles
The catalog records for both The Black Star and Ghana Today list German and do not list subtitles. A screening organizer should confirm subtitle files or translated materials before advertising either film to a multilingual audience.
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Check PAL and NTSC before buying a disc
The DEFA Film Library lists The Black Star on PAL DVD, while the listing for Ghana Today uses NTSC. These are format details, not guarantees of compatibility. Confirm the player’s regional and television-standard support, and do not treat a catalog listing as proof that stock remains available.
Separate announced dates from confirmed access
The Eyes of Ghana has a theatrical date advertised for October 28, 2026, but screenings can vary by city and change over time. Festival and educational availability likewise depends on rights. The archive pages for Freedom 1957: Ghana and And Now Tomorrow, 1957 do not establish retail availability.
Distinguish a catalog record from a complete edition
An archive may provide a description, transcript or duration without offering a downloadable or retail copy. The National Archives transcript for And Now Tomorrow, 1957 is a strong primary reference even though a consumer release is not established. The Smithsonian’s five-minute Accra footage is useful historical evidence but is not itself one of the feature recommendations.
How historically accurate are these documentaries?
Accuracy is best judged by provenance and scope, not by an invented score. And Now Tomorrow, 1957 is valuable because its narration is contemporaneous, although contemporaneous narration still reflects the perspective and vocabulary of its producers. Ghana Today and The Black Star were made close to the period they depict, while The Eyes of Ghana is a later investigation into the survival and recovery of that period’s images.
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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Each film also has a defined boundary. A 21-minute documentary cannot supply a complete political history. A 36-minute film about five years of independence is not a full biography of Nkrumah. An archive-recovery feature can explain why footage is endangered without replacing the footage’s original context. For serious study, compare the films’ narration with institutional records, catalog descriptions and the original archival material whenever it is available.
Bottom line
Choose The Eyes of Ghana for the strongest contemporary feature and the clearest link between Chris Hesse, Nkrumah and the preservation of independence-era film. Choose The Black Star for the most compact Nkrumah-centered period documentary. Add Ghana Today for a 1960 development and conference snapshot, use Freedom 1957: Ghana for a struggle-focused overview, and consult And Now Tomorrow, 1957 when you want the language of independence as it was presented in 1957.
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