CONTRADICT – IDEAS FOR A NEW WORLD 

When two friends collect money for the so-called “suffering in America” in the streets of Accra, is it for fun, political provocation, or a prophecy? Two Swiss filmmakers will answer these questions with the help of seven musicians from Ghana – M3NSA, Wanlov The Kubolor, Adomaa, Worlasi, Akan, Mutombo Da Poet, and Poetra Asantewa – who have written new songs and produced video clips especially for the documentary film Contradict.

Tomorrow’s ideas and trends are emerging more decentralized than ever in a globalized world. What do global developments and shifts in values look like from the ground up in Ghana and the African continent? How do we want to confront and contradict those changes? Can new visions for the future become global realities?

Contradict shows this new generation of musicians taking on the post-colonial struggles of their parents and grandparents with new means and allies. They produce their work cheaply thanks to new software, and they spread their concerns rapidly over the Internet. In their music, they demand a new role for Africa in today’s world, strengthen women's self-confidence, combat environmental pollution, and teach their peers self-acceptance, self-confidence, and self-esteem. They reflect on alternative lifestyles and new career paths and contradict the mainstream views of neighbors, ministers, and the omnipresent priests in the numerous mega churches in their country.

In the collaboration with these Ghanaian artists, it becomes clear that anyone who wants to change something is walking a fine line between creativity, anger, exhaustion, and depression. Contradict thus becomes an urgent, fragile, and at times humorous appeal for change.

A film by Peter Guyer and Thomas Burkhalter