Entertainment · Film · 8 hrs ago
Kris Bowers Scores Documentary on Ghana’s Preserved Liberation-Era Films
Kris Bowers composed the score for The Eyes of Ghana, a documentary directed by Canadian filmmaker Ben Proudfoot.
The film focuses on Chris Hesse, the 93-year-old former personal cinematographer of Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah.
Hesse safeguarded films for more than 60 years after authorities ordered Nkrumah-era films burned following his removal in a 1966 military coup.
The surviving footage documents Africa’s 20th-century liberation era, and its recovery restores a record long thought destroyed.
Bowers said the project moved him because it showed people and history he had not seen represented from that period.
The documentary had a one-night release in the US and Canada on October 28 and screened in Accra, Ghana.
It is also having a sold-out run at DocHouse in London.
Kris Bowers composed the score for The Eyes of Ghana, a documentary about Ghana’s liberation-era films.
The film features Chris Hesse, who safeguarded a collection of celluloid films for more than 60 years.
The archive’s films were made during the time of Ghana’s first President, Kwame Nkrumah, and were long thought to have been destroyed.
Bowers described the score as a love letter to Ghana and film history.
The film was released as a one-night theatrical event in the U.S. and Canada on October 28.
- Who
- Oscar-winning musician Kris Bowers composed the score for the documentary directed by Ben Proudfoot.
- What
- The Eyes of Ghana tells the story of Chris Hesse and surviving films from Africa’s liberation era.
- When
- The film had a one-night theatrical release on October 28. The article was published November 10, 2026.
- Where
- The film screened in the U.S. and Canada and at the Dikan Center in Accra, Ghana.
- Why
- Bowers said he wanted the score to be a love letter to Ghana and film history.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Kwame Nkrumah was toppled in a CIA-orchestrated military coup, and films made during his time were ordered to be burned.
Chris Hesse quietly safeguarded surviving celluloid films from Africa’s liberation era.
The Eyes of Ghana was released as a one-night theatrical event across the U.S. and Canada.
Deadline published its report on Bowers’s score and his appearance at Sound & Screen Film.
- Composer
- Kris Bowers
- Director
- Ben Proudfoot
- Film subject
- Chris Hesse, 93-year-old personal cinematographer to Kwame Nkrumah
- Archive preservation
- More than 60 years
- Theatrical release
- October 28, in the U.S. and Canada
What people are saying
We wanted this score to be a love letter to Ghana and to the history of film
After I finished watching it, I was filled with emotion just because of how much, as a Black man, my own history is lost.