A new documentary film ‘Ghana’s Electric Dreams’ has been released presenting the story of the planning and wide-ranging impact of the Akosombo Dam, Ghana’s most ambitious development project.

A unique collaboration between filmmaker R. Lane Clark and historian Stephan F. Miescher, the film takes the viewer to sites affected by this hydroelectric dam as well as exploring the broader vision of modernisation that it represents.

The film is organised into six 20-minute episodes, with each part focussing on a specific promise and challenge of Akosombo. Details of each section can be found below.

Episode 1: “Nkrumah’s Baby”

Introduction: Tells the story of the dam’s construction

Episode 2: “Nobody Should Be Made Worse Off”

Introduction: Recounts the hardships of resettlement

Episode 3: “Man’s Greatest Lake”

Explores environmental and social consequences of creating the world’s largest man-made lake, Lake Volta

Episode 4: “Waiting for Light”

Presents rural people’s struggle for electrification

Episode 5: “An American Island in Ghana”

Features employees of the Volta Aluminium Company, the main beneficiary of Akosombo power

Episode 6: “Ghana’s City of the Future”

Documents the story of squatters in the model city of the base dam

Co-creator Stefan F. Miescher also has a new book A Dam for Africa: Akosombo Stories from Ghana, published by Indiana University Press.

 

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