At some point in the first act, anyone familiar with Kayode Kasum’s works would already suspect Soole wouldn’t end well. The movie has the marker of a typical Kasum film; star-studded; overcrowded front seat characters; an interesting but preposterous premise; a trying but failing cast; garish lighting; and a recognition of directorial potential—or, sometimes, a total lack of it. By the third act, we are certain the film has suffered the fate of most Kasum’s works; convoluted into a gordian knot: yet another mediocre film sinking into his filmography. Related: Best Nollywood Actresses and Actors in 2021 There is…
Author: olamideadio
Read More
The most interesting thing about rewatching Chris Columbus’ 1990 film, Home Alone, is seeing Joe Pesci play Harry Lime and be a goofy burglar. It is to watch Macaulay Culkin in retrospect, knowing all the things he later struggled with as an adult, and marvel at the excellent performance he gave as a 10-year-old kid. Everything wears a new gauze with nostalgia. And last year, Macaulay Culkin tweeted jocundly on his birthday, “Hey guys, wanna feel old? I’m 40.” To rewatch Home Alone is to revisit an aspect of one’s childhood, regardless of who you are or where you are…
Clarence Peter’s Hex is evidence of his wealth of experience as a cinematographer, usually for music videos. The modalities are different when it comes to filmmaking, particularly, the storytelling aspect. It appears this is a portion of experience Clarence Peters still needs work on—which, usually, is built by making more films. Fragmented into four parts, the 2015 short film follows the death of a character per episode, all the deceased involved in a sinister event that took the life of a man and, now, suffer the consequences with their lives. Anchoring them into this death is Bola (Roseline Afije), who…
Jide Okeke’s 2021 film, Detour, is a mystery thriller about a journalist, Tara, played by Jemima Osunde, who wakes mysteriously in a forest without any memory of who she is or how she got there. She dials up Alex (Olumide Oworu), a contact on her phone, and pleads for his help. Alex is a corper romantically interested in Tara and, alongside Alex is his friend, Jide (Tomiwa Tegbe), the comic relief and sidekick to balance Alex’s character. There is much to write about Detour but, summarily, it is a bad movie. It has all the tropes of a mystery and…
When one considers other brazenly supernatural Surreal16 titles like Shaitan (2017), Juju Stories doesn’t sound so peculiar. Like the others, it is earnest about what it offers. Still, the title alone has an occultic allure, the feel that one is about to witness something for the initiated. And that assessment wouldn’t be wrong because the directors, Abba T. Makama, C. J. ‘Fiery’ Obasi, and Mike Omonua are amongst the few bohemian filmmakers Nollywood has spotlit in recent years. Screened at the tenth annual Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF), Juju Stories continues the line of mystical films the trio have in…
The Harder They Fall is an ambitiously stylized 2021 western directed by Jeymes Samuel. It is a confident film, sure of what it wants to do, but the question of success at this cannot be confidently answered. At best, The Harder They Fall got a good number of stylistic choices right. It has the actors to hold the performance together, and it succeeds on this end; the music—expressing the director’s musical background—nourishes the tone and, when you pay attention, you realize it was used to switch the film from one beat to another; the sharp zoom-ins to emphasize actions; the…
The second session on the third day was titled Oscars Race: Rules and Eligibility for Nigerian Submission for International Feature Category. It covered the frustrating relationship Nollywood has had with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in recent times despite Milkmaid, the country’s first entry last year which didn’t make it past the first round. Delphine Okobar moderated the session and the panelists were Moses Babatope, Chineze Anyaene, Victor Okhai, and Omotola Jalade-Ekehinde. Related: 2021 AMAA Nominations List: ‘Omo Ghetto’, ‘Eyimofe’, ‘Ayinla’ and ‘La Femme Anjola’ Nab Multiple Nominations Delphine opened the session with the direct question of…
The third day of the ongoing AFRIFF (Africa Film International Festival) saw new speakers broach new, interesting topics. The first session, titled Producing for the Big Screen, was anchored by Kate Henshaw, with established industry figure panel members like Bolanle Austen-Peters, Mo Abudu, Moses Inwang (Lockdown), and Kunle Afolayan (Swallow). Related: AFRIFF 2021 Day Two: Amazon Prime Video’s Strategy to Rival Netflix in Sub-Saharan Africa Asked the question of what a blockbuster is, the panel had varying answers. Mo Abudu believes it is simply a globally in-demand film that transcends the usual strictures of race, gender, class, etc. and the…
The tenth anniversary of AFRIFF (Africa International Film Festival) opened on Sunday, 7th November 2021. Day 2 saw its first panel session: The Stakeholders: Amazon Prime Video Introduction to African Filmmakers. It was moderated by the delectable Nse Ikpe-Etim and she had an interactive session with Ayanna Lonian (Head Worldwide Major Studio Licensing Strategy, Amazon Prime Video). They discussed Nollywood, Amazon’s continued presence in the industry, and how that would affect the industry, and the new dimension Amazon’s relationship with Nollywood will take now. Related: 2021 AMAA Nominations List: ‘Omo Ghetto’, ‘Eyimofe’, ‘Ayinla’ and ‘La Femme Anjola’ Nab Multiple Nominations…
Revered director, Izu Ojukwu’s Amina is a flailing film that can’t quite capture the breadth of Amina, the Queen of Zazzau’s story. As expected with an historical epic, there are numerous threads that must be thoroughly explored to help make meaning of the character. In Amina’s (Lucy Ameh) case, there is the relationship with her father (Abu Chris Gbakann); there is her relationship with her sister, Zaria (Habiba Ummi Mohammed); with the slaves; with the Igala prince (Ali Nuhu); with the Madaki Asabe (Magaji Ibrahim Mijinyawa); the source of her courage—an uncommon thing for women in that period—against patriarchal adversity;…