Only Majid Michel ‘Came Through For Me’ – Yvonne Nelson Recounts Movie Ban
In furtherance of the now famous, ‘I Am Not Yvonne Nelson’ memoir, Ghanaian actress Yvonne Nelson has revealed that after receiving a suspension from the Film Producers Association of Ghana (FIPAG) in 2010, she felt betrayed by her fellow actors.
Nelson was prohibited after a fight with movie producer Abdul Salam Mumuni. She claimed that she felt primarily betrayed by the more seasoned female actors who abandoned her after she was victimized by the all-male movie producers.
The actress said that Majid Michel was the only actor who stood by her during her difficult times in her new book, “I Am Not Yvonne Nelson,” which was published on Sunday, June 18.
She also made an effort to end her argument with a claim about movie producer Abdul Salam.
“I also felt betrayed by my colleagues in the movie industry, especially the older female actors. I thought I was being bullied and needed their support to confront the all-male producers. If what they did to me was to send a message to those they employed to act for them; if that message was to say that nobody was indispensable and that they could choose to teach anyone they pleased a lesson; then I expected a collective voice of disapproval from the actors. That did not happen. I was alone. And I faced it squarely.
“Here again, one exception was Majid Michel, who stood by me in the thick of it all. He defended me and even tried to mediate with Abdul Salam, but it did not work. He was one of three people with whom I travelled to Akosombo to see the film producers, who had said they wanted to meet me. The others were Fred Nuamah and Frank Raja. In Akosombo, I saw Augustine Abbey, popularly known as Idikoko, among the film producers. This was a man I grew up watching on television and hoped he would encourage and inspire the young ones to grow. Instead, he was siding with a group of men who thought they controlled the bread and the whip and had the power to deny a bite to whoever refused to be whipped in their incongruous line. In the meeting, they were extremely rude”.
She further highlighted how Abdul Salam, who instigated the ban, later patched things up with her.
“I still do not understand why they wanted to meet me, for nothing concrete came out of that meeting.
Perhaps, they thought I would go and kneel and beg them to lift my ban. I didn’t do that. Frank Raja,
Majid and I left Akosombo without any sign from them that they would do something about the ban. It
continued.
Within that year, however, there were cracks in the ranks of the producers. David Owusu of Media Five
Productions defied the ban and cast me in a movie, but he was not allowed to release it until the ban was over.
Abdul Salam, who had instigated the ban came to me to patch things up. He said we should leave the
past behind us and work together. With him, I shot two movies. This was without the knowledge of the
other producers because the ban was still in place. Socrates Sarfo, a producer who asked me out for
dinner, told me how he was disappointed in the actions of Abdul Salam.
I don’t know why they all suddenly disembarked from their high horses and tried to court my affection. If
I’m to hazard a guess, however, I’ll pin it down to the failure of the intended effect of their ban. They had
thought I was going to be crushed by the ban, but they soon realised that their action had rather lifted my profile”
