How Barack Obama and Michelle Obama Produced Kwame Nkrumah's Documentary 'The Eyes of Ghana'

• Producer Anita Afonu revealed how Barack and Michelle Obama's production company became involved in the Kwame Nkrumah documentary Eyes of Ghana
• The Obamas reportedly spotted footage from the project while visiting an office and immediately expressed interest in coming on board
• Anita Afonu described the project as deeply personal for Barack Obama due to a remarkable historical connection between Nkrumah and his father

The story behind how Barack and Michelle Obama came to co-produce the Ghanaian documentary "Eyes of Ghana" is turning out to be just as compelling as the film itself.

Anita Afonu, one of the producers of "Eyes of Ghana", a documentary centred on Ghana's founding president Kwame Nkrumah, has shed light on how the former US president and first lady got involved in the project.

Speaking in a seated interview shared with Isaac Dadzie of GhanaWeb on 17 October 2026, Afonu recounted the sequence of events that brought Higher Ground, the Obamas' production company, into the fold.

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How Higher Ground discovered the Nkrumah story

According to Afonu, Higher Ground had previously worked with Breakwater Studios on a film called "The Turnaround".

It was during a visit to the office, while that earlier collaboration was underway, that the Obamas caught a glimpse of footage from "Eyes of Ghana", which had been shot in 2023.

"They saw bits of the footage, and they asked, 'What is that?'" Afonu recalled.

Once they learned about the Nkrumah story and the Bais Kessie connection, she said, they were immediately keen to get involved as producers.

Full circle moment for Barack Obama

What makes the partnership particularly striking is the personal dimension Afonu attached to it.

She described the project as meaningful to Barack Obama on a level that goes well beyond professional interest, tracing a direct line between Nkrumah and Obama's own family history.

"It was Kwame Nkrumah that mentored his father," she explained.

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Through the influence of trade unionist Tom Mboya and Kwame Nkrumah himself, Barack Obama Senior was inspired to pursue a scholarship in the United States.

That journey eventually led to the birth of Barack Obama Junior, the 44th President of the United States.

"So it's a full circle moment in the making of this," Afonu said.

The revelation has drawn significant attention online, with many Ghanaians and history enthusiasts struck by how deeply the story of Ghana's independence era intersects with one of the most recognisable political dynasties in modern American history.

The X video of Anita Afonu explaining how the Obamas got involved in the Kwame Nkrumah documentary is below:

IShowspeed joins the Obamas' Kwame Nkrumah documentary

Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported on IShowSpeed joining a documentary on Ghana’s independence history, backed by Barack and Michelle Obama, and sharing its release date.

The film followed 93-year-old cameraman Chris Hesse’s race against fading eyesight and time to preserve more than 1,000 rare films documenting Ghana’s independence struggle.

Source: YEN.com.gh