Three Ghanaian filmmakers have emerged as winners of the EU-Ghana Pitch Café, held as part of the 2026 European Union Film Festival Ghana, each receiving GH¢10,000 to develop their film projects.
Kwaku Edusei Acquah, with Abonsam Cartoons, Deladem Duvi, with Unfinished Business, and Adwoa Safoa Oppong-Nyarko, with I See You, were the winners to emerge from the Pitch Café. Each of the three winners received GH¢10,000. Acquah’s GH¢10,000 came from the Pitch Café itself, while the National Film Authority (NFA) sponsored the projects of Duvi and Oppong-Nyarko.
The announcement was made at the closing ceremony of the festival, which ran from 5 to 11 October under the theme Peace, Tolerance and Inclusion. The 2026 edition brought Ghanaian and European cinema together through screenings, masterclasses and industry engagements. The Pitch Café, held at the British Council, gave ten emerging filmmakers the chance to present story ideas to a panel that included Bee Arthur of the NFA, Kofi Adinkra, Danny Damah of the EU Delegation, and actor Adjetey Anang.
NFA Executive Secretary Kafui Danku-Pitcher described the authority’s support as an investment in the talent of emerging filmmakers and in the future of Ghanaian storytelling. For the three filmmakers, the support is a chance to take stories about personal, social and psychological experience beyond the pitching room.
Kwaku Edusei Acquah: Abonsam Cartoons
Abonsam Cartoons was one of ten projects presented at the Pitch Café. It is a psychological drama about Kwame, who was exposed to pornography at the age of 11 and still struggles with its effects 16 years later.
The story is concerned with innocence lost too early, and with the possibility of being understood beyond the mask a person builds to hide their pain. Its focus on the long-term effects of childhood experience gives it room to explore the relationship between trauma, identity and intimacy.
The EU-backed support allows him to continue developing the film after the initial presentation, a necessary step for a story that will need further work before it reaches the screen.
Deladem Duvi: Unfinished Business
Duvi received GH¢10,000 from the NFA to develop Unfinished Business, a supernatural drama-thriller about two young men whose friendship becomes one of the most defining relationships of their lives. It explores love, loss and the things left unfinished with the people who matter most, blending wit, emotion, mystery and supernatural elements.
“This is ultimately a love story, but not the conventional kind,” Duvi says. “It is about the kind of love that exists between friends, the kind that can challenge you, frustrate you, change you, and leave an indelible mark on your life.” Setting that bond inside a supernatural thriller is meant to make the film entertaining as well as emotionally resonant.
The award is both a professional and a personal milestone. After years of carrying a story and hoping to find the resources to develop it, the support is an important step, and the project is close to his heart because it represents the kind of filmmaker he aspires to become. He thanks the NFA and European Film Festival Ghana for believing in it.
The focus now is on deepening the screenplay, refining the creative vision and positioning the film for production. “I see this award as an important foundation rather than the finish line,” he says. He hopes to connect with producers, investors and co-production partners, and wants a film that resonates in Ghana and across Africa and can travel internationally.
Adwoa Safoa Oppong-Nyarko: I See You
Oppong-Nyarko also received GH¢10,000 from the NFA for I See You, which explores men’s mental health and vulnerability through the life of a young fisherman.
The central character dreams of prosperity but gradually retreats into silence under the weight of his responsibilities. The story looks at the pressures men can face while providing for themselves and others, and at how hard it can be to express distress when they are expected to stay strong. Setting it within a fishing community grounds the subject in a specific working and social context.
Support from the EU and the NFA
With GH¢10,000 for each project, the three awards total GH¢30,000, with the NFA sponsoring two of them. For emerging filmmakers, development funding helps with one of the earliest challenges: finding the resources to keep working on an idea before it is ready for production.
It also points to what festivals can do beyond screening finished films. By pairing a pitching platform with financial support, the EU Film Festival Ghana created a point of contact between emerging filmmakers and institutions that can help their projects progress.
The 2026 festival presented 21 films from Ghana and Europe, with masterclasses on intellectual property, creative negotiation, vertical filmmaking, animation and storytelling, and costume, make-up and representation.
The three supported projects differ widely, from the effects of childhood experience to unresolved friendship and men’s mental health. The next step for Acquah, Duvi and Oppong-Nyarko is to turn this recognition into further development and, ultimately, completed films.
