IShowSpeed and the Obamas Are Putting ‘The Eyes of Ghana’ in Theaters for One Night

IShowSpeed just became a movie producer, and Barack and Michelle Obama are among the film’s executive producers. The streamer has partnered with Breakwater Studios and the Obamas’ Higher Ground to bring Ben Proudfoot’s documentary The Eyes of Ghana to U.S. theaters for one night only on Wednesday, Oct. 28, Variety reported exclusively on Thursday (Oct. 15). Regal, AMC, Cinemark, other chains and independent cinemas are taking part.

The film follows Chris Hesse, Kwame Nkrumah’s personal cameraman. As his eyesight fails, Hesse tries to rescue more than 1,000 films that captured Africa’s fight for independence in the 1950s and ’60s, reels that were hidden for decades after Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president, was overthrown. It premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. Watch the trailer below.

IShowSpeed, whose real name is Darren Watkins Jr., tied his involvement to a trip to Ghana earlier this year. “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. I felt a profound connection to Ghana when I visited this year, and learning about Chris Hesse’s work deepened my understanding of the country and its people,” he said in a statement, via IBTimes. On his livestream, he put it more simply, according to Yen: “I went to Ghana this year, and it felt like home.” Variety counts more than 200 million followers and subscribers across his platforms. He has crossed over before, too: his World Cup song became an official FIFA record.

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The score is the part music fans should know about. Kris Bowers, the composer of Green Book and Bridgerton, wrote it, and Proudfoot recorded it with the Chineke! Orchestra, the world’s first majority-Black orchestra, at Abbey Road in 2025, per Deadline, which says Bowers blended African instrumentation with sweeping cinematic themes. “I’m aware that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Proudfoot told Deadline between recording sessions.

The release follows a creator-led playbook. Variety points to Markiplier’s Iron Lung, which opened to $17 million in January and finished with $50 million worldwide on a $3 million budget. Ethan Lewis, Higher Ground’s head of non-fiction, said in a statement that “Chris Hesse spent more than six decades documenting and safeguarding an extraordinary chapter of Ghanaian and African history.” The Obamas, whose Chicago presidential center put Springsteen, Stevie Wonder and Bono on its opening lineup, are executive producers.

Screenings in Ghana and the U.K. are expected to be announced separately, Adom reports. The one-night U.S. event is Oct. 28.