Meet Rev Dr Chris Hesse: The man who filmed Dr Kwame Nkrumah & Ghana

• Chris Hesse served as Kwame Nkrumah’s personal cameraman, documenting Ghana’s independence and Africa’s liberation struggle.

• He preserved more than 1,000 reels of historic footage and helped shape Ghana’s film industry.

• The Eyes of Ghana is bringing his legacy to a new generation of audiences.

Through his camera, Rev Dr Hesse documented a defining period in Ghana’s political history, capturing events and encounters that continue to shape how the continent remembers its past.

His work is receiving renewed international attention through The Eyes of Ghana, a documentary directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Ben Proudfoot. The film follows the veteran cinematographer’s efforts to preserve his extensive archive of historical footage and pass his knowledge to a younger generation of Ghanaian filmmakers.

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The documentary premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2025. On October 15, 2026, American online personality IShowSpeed announced his involvement as a producer, alongside Barack and Michelle Obama’s production company, Higher Ground, whose executives are attached to the project.

The film is scheduled for a one-night cinema release across the United States and Canada on October 28, 2026, bringing renewed attention to Hesse’s contribution to Ghanaian cinema and historical preservation.

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Born in Osu, Accra, on August 29, 1932, Rev Dr Hesse attended Osu Presbyterian Junior and Senior Boys’ School before continuing his education at Odorgonno Secondary School. He obtained the Cambridge Overseas Certificate in 1954, the same year he began working with the Gold Coast Film Unit.

The unit later became the Ghana Film Industry Corporation (GFIC), a key institution in the country’s film production history. Hesse worked in public film production from 1954 to 1994, building a career that combined cinematography, documentary filmmaking and film administration.

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One of his early credits was The Boy Kumasenu, directed by British filmmaker Sean Graham. The production received a British Academy Film Award nomination for Best Picture, marking an early connection between Hesse’s work and internationally recognised cinema.

Rev Dr Hesse’s association with Nkrumah placed him close to the political transformation that followed Ghana’s independence in 1957. As the president’s personal cameraman, he recorded events surrounding the country’s development and Nkrumah’s efforts to advance Pan-African unity and support liberation movements across the continent.

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His assignments extended beyond Ghana. He filmed international conferences and visits involving African leaders and organisations such as the United Nations, the Commonwealth and the Organisation of African Unity. In 1960, he also documented the Congo crisis, gaining experience as a war cameraman.

These images provide a visual record of a period marked by the dismantling of colonial rule, competing political visions and efforts to establish a stronger African presence in global affairs.

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The 1966 coup that overthrew Nkrumah placed historical material associated with his presidency at risk. Hesse preserved more than 1,000 reels of footage, much of which remained unseen for decades. That archive is central to The Eyes of Ghana, which explores efforts to restore and digitise the recordings so they can be accessed by future generations.

Rev Dr Hesse’s influence extended well beyond his work with Nkrumah. At the GFIC, he headed the News Department from 1974 to 1984, overseeing newsreels, magazine programmes, advertisements and short documentaries. He later served as the corporation’s managing director for 10 years before retiring from government service in 1994.

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As a cinematographer, he contributed to several acclaimed Ghanaian productions, including Kwaw Ansah’s Love Brewed in the African Pot (1980) and Heritage Africa (1989). He also worked on His Majesty’s Sergeant (1984), directed by Ato Yanney Snr, and Harvest at 17 (1994).

His work earned him the Golden Camera Award at the Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO) in Burkina Faso in 1985. The recognition reinforced his standing in African cinema at a time when filmmakers across the continent were developing stories rooted in their societies and cultural experiences.

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In 2014, Rev Dr Hesse was honoured at the third NAFTI Film Lectures for his contributions to filmmaking, cinematography and documentary photography. He was also a founding member and former president of the Ghana Academy of Film and Television Arts (GAFTA), where he supported efforts to strengthen the country’s film industry.

Alongside his filmmaking career, Rev Dr Hesse pursued religious service. He was ordained into the Ministry of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana in 1985 and served in several congregations. He also became executive director of the Prisons Ministry of Ghana.

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He married Regina Hesse in 1959, and they have five children and grandchildren. Outside his professional and religious commitments, his interests have included lawn tennis, jogging, cycling and yoga.

In The Eyes of Ghana, Rev Dr Hesse’s story becomes part of a wider discussion about historical preservation and the ownership of African narratives. As his eyesight deteriorates, he works with younger Ghanaian filmmaker Anita Afonu to protect his archive and encourage emerging filmmakers to document their own communities and experiences.

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The documentary’s renewed international exposure, including IShowSpeed’s involvement, creates an opportunity to introduce Hesse’s work to audiences who may know little about Ghana’s independence-era film history.

His archive is significant not simply because it captures a former president, but because it records a period when Ghana occupied an influential position in the Pan-African movement. The images provide a resource for examining how African leaders pursued independence, confronted political challenges and imagined the continent’s future.