Ghanaian film follows orphans' 150-mile journey to Accra

Ghanaian director Amartei Armar’s debut feature “Our Time Will Come” follows two orphans on a 150-mile journey from a rural village to Accra in search of family, blending Dickensian themes with West African realism.

The film arrives as Ghana’s film industry, dubbed “Ghollywood,” pushes beyond low-budget comedies to tell deeper stories, supported by the government’s 2020 Film Act that funds local productions and targets international festivals. Armar, a former ad man, spent years developing the script, drawn to Ghana’s post-colonial identity gaps where children still vanish into informal fosters and traffickers exploit poverty. Shot in the Volta Region with non-professional leads, the movie captures the lush landscapes and hard roads that mirror emotional terrain.

The journey centers on 12-year-old Kofi and his younger sister Abena, played by first-time actors who carry raw, unforced performances. Their trek exposes them to hustlers, pastors, and distant relatives—some kind, others predatory—while the city looms like a promise and a threat. Ghana’s orphan crisis, driven by economic migration and weak social services, affects over 90,000 children, according to UNICEF, making the story painfully relatable. The film avoids sentimentalism, focusing instead on survival and fragile hope.

Critics at this month’s Toronto festival praised the film’s restraint and authenticity, calling it a breakthrough for Ghanaian cinema. Armar plans community screenings across Ghana to spark dialogue about child welfare. For audiences worldwide, the film offers a rare, unsentimental look at Africa’s most vulnerable—through their own eyes, not outsiders’.