The festival, which was hosted by Lala Akindoju featured 19 films and showed exciting talents from African directors.
The festival celebrated independent African movies and documentary. True to its theme – Who Do You Think You Are – the movie encourages self-reflection, throws light on some hidden and dark areas in Africa.
Customary of us we have highlighted some of the most important moments from the festival:
1. Tunde Kilani’s Sidi Ilujinle
Sidi Ilujinle is an adaptation of Wole Soyinka’s The Lion and the Jewel translated into Yoruba starring Ibrahim Shatta and Adebayo Salami. What thrilled us about the movie, which was shot in Ibadan was not just the awesome performance of Ibrahim Shatta but also the notion of retrieving the movie back to the Yoruba people.
The movie was also the fusion of stage play and motion picture which adopted the original Yoruba travelling theatre.
2. Onyeka Nwelue’s Agwaetti Obiuto
Agwaetti Obiuto is based on Onyeka Nwelue’s book, An Island of Happiness. The movie is set in a small oil-producing town in Imo state – Oguta. It follows how different generations react to government’s ill-treatment in the society, the manipulative nature of the religious body and a need for the youths to fight back for the land they so much love.
What really got our attention was not necessarily the movie, which has a disjointed plot but the producer’s unapologetic and blunt attitude towards what he believes in. In a question and answer session with Onyeka, he continually reiterated the need to eradicate the older generation from the 1930s – 1960s and ban (radical) religion from the country.
3. Manthia Diawara’s Negritude: A Dialogue between Wole Soyinka and Senghor
Manthia Diawara Negritude imagines a dialogue between one of the founding fathers of the Negritude movement, Léopold Sédar Senghor, and one of Nigeria’s most influential thinkers and writers, Wole Soyinka. The film looks into the relevance of the movement in modern history.
The film gave a representation of how Negritude should be perceived in the modern day, representing African sound and the effortless transition between the talk and a stage play. The stage served as a build up for the narration, with the narration riding on the back of the fine African culture, sound and images.
The music was quite stimulating and trust me when I say that the film will help you love African prints more especially Ankara.
4. Remi Vaughan- Richards’ Hidden Treasures
Now this movie will help you appreciate art if you never did. As the name implies, Hidden Treasures shines the light on the hidden side of creative visual art in Nigeria. The movie features Yusuf Grillo – one of the foremost founders of visual art in Nigeria – private collection.
The film follows the inception of visual arts in the country and why it should be reawakened and appreciated more, opening and closing with a refreshing perspective to art.
5. Emeka Ed Keazor’ Cafe of Dreams
The documentary is about a place called Dolphin Cafe in Onitsha. The foremost club that birthed a host of talented artists like Rex Lawson. Dolphin Cafe was not just a club but a second home for a lot of people and a birthing place for talents.
I have never appreciated the eastern part of Nigeria as I did after seeing this documentary. It was not just enlightening but passionate. You could hear and see the grit and passion of each participant in the documentary.
One thing I learnt from the documentary and the talk with Emeka is the untold story of the life of the Eastern part of Nigeria before the war.
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