IShowSpeed and the Obamas are bringing a Ghana history doc to theaters, one night only: Oct 28

IShowSpeed is officially a film producer, and his project comes with Barack and Michelle Obama attached. Speed, credited under his real name Darren Watkins, is a producer on The Eyes of Ghana, a documentary about Ghana’s independence era, while the Obamas are executive producers, according to the film’s Oct 15 release announcement reported by BroadwayWorld.

The official trailer is out now on Higher Ground’s YouTube channel, and the film gets a one-night-only theatrical release on Wednesday, Oct 28, across the U.S. and Canada.

What the movie is actually about

The 90-minute doc follows Chris Hesse, the personal cameraman to Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president. As his eyesight fails, Hesse races to rescue more than 1,000 films documenting Africa’s independence struggle in the 1950s and ’60s, an archive that stayed hidden for decades after Nkrumah was overthrown in 1966, per BroadwayWorld.

It’s directed by Ben Proudfoot, a two-time Oscar winner whose Breakwater Studios made The Queen of Basketball and The Last Repair Shop. The Obamas’ company, Higher Ground, is a release partner alongside Speed and Breakwater.

Why Speed is involved

Speed has said the project is personal. “I felt a profound connection to Ghana when I visited this year,” he said in the announcement, adding that he’s “proud to help bring his story to my community.”

It is a great honor to be part of THE EYES OF GHANA and help bring this extraordinary piece of history to the big screen.— IShowSpeed, in the film’s release announcement, Oct 15

Ghana’s MyJoyOnline reports he joined after visiting the country earlier this year during his Speed Does Africa tour, when he stopped by the Kwame Nkrumah monument in Accra. The Source describes it as his first film production credit.

Watch the trailer

This isn’t a random YouTube side quest

The film has already done the festival circuit: it opened the TIFF Docs program at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival and screened in competition at the BFI London Film Festival, according to BroadwayWorld. It also picked up a Special Jury Prize and Best Documentary at the Africa International Film Festival in Lagos.

The score is by Oscar winner Kris Bowers, and some sequences were shot on IMAX 65mm film, per the announcement.

How to see it

Screenings are on Oct 28 only at participating Regal, AMC and Cinemark locations plus independent theaters, with tickets and showtimes at TheEyesOfGhana.com, per BroadwayWorld. The Source reports screenings in Ghana and the U.K. are expected to be announced.