Gladstone collection 3: Northern Territories, Ghana Part 1 c.1961

Filmmaker: Wilma Gladstone General description In this film, Gladstone and her friend Joyce Trott record a driving tour they made of the northern and eastern regions of Ghana. The footage shows a variety of everyday scenes depicting roof thatching, children learning and playing at school, various markets and children weaving cloth as well as scenes from the Independence Day celebrations in Ghana. Detailed description Ferry crossing the Volta River at Yeji Clip shows trucks driving off a car float ferry with side tug on one side of the river while other vehicles wait to drive onto the ferry. Men and women walk onto the ferry as well, including a young bread-seller balancing a large tray of bread loaves on his head. Scene switches aboard the ferry itself as it crosses the river, closing in on the opposite riverbank. Shots of cars and people waiting on the opposite side. King of Dagbon at independence celebrations at Savelugu Opens with Ya Na Abdulai III (r. 1953-67) dismounting from a boat-like palanquin and processing under a large red and green ceremonial umbrella. Scene shifts to drummers beating the traditional Dagomba (Dagbamba) 'talking drums' (luna, lunga) - a drum with an hourglass-shaped wooden body with two goatskin heads connected by taut leather cords which is held under the left arm and beaten with a J-shaped wooden stick. Camera returns to focus on Abdulai III in procession who is accompanied by a policeman and, subsequently, a young woman (ritual water bearer) carrying ceremonial items in a metal tub on her head. Scene shifts to a Dagomba chief or elder dismounting from a caparisoned horse. Other chiefs are shown parading on their ornately dressed horses. Roof thatching near Tamale Construction of thatched huts by several people on a busy village site showing the materials used and the workmen in close-up after an initial long shot. A man lifts a bundle of straw to allow another man to hoist it aloft on a wooden thatching pole. Thatcher twirls it in the air while walking it to the roofers working on top of a traditional round mud-walled dwelling. Neighbours stand around watching both the thatching and the filming of it. Shots show the roof framework; also, incidental footage of the other houses in the village and the mud walls surrounding them.