Desmond Elliot drags Governor Suswam to Nollywood

It is not so often to get those in high echelon of politics to get involved in movies. Sometimes we get to see some of them strut their stuff in music in case in hand is that of Donald Duke or Babatunde Fashola at Coliseum. But to get them go beyond lip service to back Nollywood is as Herculean as what Herculean could mean.

Desmond Olushola Elliot did almost the undoable when he got His Excellency Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State involved in his first movie as a producer. Don't start thinking the governor is now an actor, no not at all. The governor rather than act is backing the premier of Desmond Movie, Reloaded in Abuja come December 12th at the Trancorp Hilton Hotel.

Suswam is not just backing the premier heavily he is also planning to grace the occasion. According to a source, a couple of his cabinet members will also be at the venue. The deal according to Desmond would see Benue State advertisement grace every CD of the movie when it will be finally sold. From the plans on ground the movie would witness massive distribution and that would translate into good leverage for the people and government of Benue to showcase their culture and heritage.

Desmond told us he has sold the America and Jamaica right of the movie and for every copy sold Benue advert would be air. So, don't be surprised if the state emerge one of the most popular in Nigeria in a short while. The deal we learnt made Desmond richer with a couple of millions. Reloaded is a movie that has to do with maltreatment of the female gender and aftermath event and consequence.

It is one movie you might not get to see up and coming stars as it parades strictly A-list artistes such as Desmond, Ramsey Nouah, Van Viker (from Ghana), Monalisa Chinda, Ini Edo, Uche Jombo, Rita Dominic, Stephanie Okereke and others. On that same day at the same Venue, Vivian Ejike will also premier her movie, When the heart lies. The movie which many had rated as top-class feature star actress Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, Desmond Elliot, Uche Jombo, Paul Play Dairo and others. So, if you are thinking of when to spend your evening come December 12th, proceed to Transcorp Hilton where entertainment will meet governance.

Wicked Nigerian batters veteran actor Enebeli…may go blind!!!

Nigerians may soon lose the services and sight of one of its finest entertainers, Enebeli Elebuwa, if urgent medical attention is not provided for his left eye, which was recently battered by a heartless Nigerian, Onyeka Dike.

In a voice filled with tears and regret, the veteran actor, who became famous in the “Andrew Wants To Check Out”, TV re-orientation promo, in the 80's, narrated how his ordeal began in the hands of 47 year old Dike, an auto dealer at Berger, Apapa, Lagos.

According to Elebuwa, 62, “ What you are looking at (removing his dark spectacle to reveal a battered left eye), happened in the evening of Friday, November 28, 2008, at the Mobil Filling Station, Aguda, Surulere, Lagos”.
Explaining further, now weeping Elebuwa, who was also writhing in pains said: “ We were on a moving queue when this young man came from nowhere and wanted to jump the queue with his car, but other law abiding motorists protested but the man refused. That was when I alighted from my car and was trying to plead with him to follow due process. But to my consternation, he started cursing and shouting my full names and told me to get out of his sight. When I tried again to calm him down, he started abusing me and boasted that my being an actor does not mean he cannot deal with me and nothing would happen. I later got closer and asked him, if I was not old enough to be his father? I had not finished saying this when he brought out a sharp object and stabbed me in the eyes at a close range and I immediately passed out.”

Elebuwa, further disclosed that immediately this happened, an angry mob that had already gathered descended on Dike, and were about lynching him, when some plain clothes policemen came and whisked him away to Aguda Police Station, Surulere.
Though, at the station, during our visit, an officer who pleaded for anonymity confirmed the incident and disclosed that Dike was detained for three days, before being released on bail.
Elebuwa, also called on well meaning Nigerians to immediately come to his aid, adding that his doctor had advised him to travel abroad for further treatment, but he could not afford the bills. “I'm totally helpless now and cannot even work. Well meaning Nigerians should come to my aid, I do not want to go blind,” he pleaded.
The leadership of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) and the Association of Movie Producers (AMP) have come out to strongly condemn the unwholesome attack.

DESMOND ELLIOTT - Getting To Know Him

Background

I was born to a Yoruba father and an Ibo mother. I grew up in the Northern part of the country and I am married to an Akwa-Ibom woman. I had my primary education at Air Force Primary school in Jos from where I went to St John’s College also in Jos. I studied Economics at the Lagos State University, Ojo, Lagos and graduated in 2003.


A true Nigerian

I understand the three major Nigerian languages but I speak more of Hausa because that is the language I grew up with.

Relaxation

I basically relax with my wife whenever the opportunity comes, especially if I am in town and not involved in a tedious job. I have a special form of relaxation, I just choose a suitable time and free myself from every form of stress.

Marriage

Although people say I got married late but the truth is that I dated my wife for about eight years before we finally got married. My kind of job may have exposed me to the opposite sex but the truth is that my wife means the whole world to me. I appreciate my wife and I married her basically for love and nothing else. She is so understanding and caring. These are the two vital attributes I find lacking in most women of today.

Turn off

I don’t like people flashing me. I mean if you want to give a call, go ahead and do so, it is of no use flashing me.

Why I run from women

Women chase me because I am an actor and if they don’t do that it simply means that I am not yet an actor. In fact, being chased is not the issue, what matters is that whenever I perceive that I am about to be chased, I run. I run because I have an ambition, which I don’t want women to ruin for me. I run from them if they want to go beyond the level of being my fans to another level.

Interview with Victor Okhai, Queen Amina [2]

About Queen Amina project

Queen Amina is a project I am passionate about. The idea did not just drop from nowhere. I have to give credit to a lady from the American Embassy, (the United States Department of State). This idea came when the woman challenged us during a workshop. She said that there is so much to do in this country, and that why don't we pick from the good subjects we have and make good films out of them. And then it struck me that of all the subjects around, Queen Amina is one project that I can take anywhere. Now why do I want to do Queen Amina? There are so many intriguing things about the personality of the queen. Queen Amina was a woman who lived in the 17th century in a predominantly Islamic society. She became not just a queen but also a warrior and conquered states all the way from Zaria down to River Niger. That was not all. There were a lot of odds against her. She was a woman and from an Islamic background. She never got married. Wherever she went to, she would take a man for the night, sleep with him and by morning, she would execute him so that the man would not go and run off his mouth.

My interest in the subject

What I seek to reveal in this movie is Queen Amina's motivation. What kept her going from Zaria all the way through? What was she looking for? Why was she killing all those men? For a woman to be so powerful and influential at that age and time, not in this age when we talk about woman liberation, there must have been something about her. That is what I want to explore in the film. I am not just going to shoot Queen Amina but I intend to clinch Nigeria's first foreign Oscar Award through the project. I know the rules of the Oscar, rules 2 and 14. I am working strictly by those rules. I would shoot Queen Amina in Hausa language. I am in a position to do this because I can read and write Hausa language. I also understand and respect the culture. I will remain faithful and true to what the language represents. Most importantly, filmmakers in the north have embraced me on the project. I have discussed with someone like Sanu Uwazu, the president of MOPAN. He has given me his full assurance.

Budget and artistes

It's an expensive project. My budget is about N300 million, about S2.5 million, which is really nothing. It has to be done well. We are raising funds on our own but we shall contact some institutions for support. Even after producing the film, we intend to market and exhibit it in all major film festivals in order to create necessary awareness before the Oscar. That would take a lot of money as well. These institutions would see that it is something they should contribute to as part of their corporate social responsibility. But whether or not they do it, we are focused on this project. I once spoke to the Managing Director of the Nigeria Film Corporation, Mr. Afolabi Adesanya about it and he has assured that he would support us.

Winning the Oscar Award

We have done this before. Last year, the International Film and Broadcasting Academy, took part in the biggest film festival in Europe and Germany with a short film called Chill Pill, by one of my students. We did not come home empty handed; we won a prize. We set our target, made it and returned with victory. Queen Alima is another project that we have made up our minds to realise. We are abiding by all the rules and are dealing with strategic planning. Our target is the award for the Best Foreign Language Picture in the Oscars.

Interview with Victor Okhai, Queen Amina

Victor Okhai, popular filmmaker and scholar is founder and director of the International Film and Broadcast Academy, Lagos. The academy is acclaimed Nigeria's first private film school. Okhai has been a major consultant and commentator on Nigeria's motion picture industry otherwise known as Nollywood. He has presented many papers at different for a as well as served as resource person to a number of workshops and seminars on film both locally and abroad.

Recently, Okhai presented a background survey on Nollywood at a discourse presided over by Mr Horst Kohler, President of the Federal Republic of Germany who visited Nigeria. Kohler was a guest of Goethe Institut, Lagos to which Okhai is a consultant. He spoke to Daily Sun on his career and passion for film as well as his pet project Queen Amina.

How I established the academy

It started in 1996 but it was officially registered in 1997. Basically, we are into training. We are official trainers for organizations like AIT, Minaj and a few other television stations in Nigeria. I have been doing this for years now, locally and internationally. Not only that, I have been a very strong voice for propagating all that Nollywood stands for at various international fora. Basically, a lot of people come from all over the world to join Nollywood but I have been here from the beginning. And I'm able to talk from an intellectual and practitioner's standpoint. Generally, even though I deliver papers talking about Nollywood, I have also been a resource person for organizations like the BBC. For instance, locally, I've been a resource person on script writing for UNICEF. We did a programme recently here in Jos and Lagos. The United States Department of States in conjunction with scriptwriters just held two workshops in Jos and Lagos. We also had a visiting Professor from New York, his name is Miller Churchill. I was one of the resource persons as well. This is something I do all the time. I've been teaching with the National Film Institute and I've been a resource person for many years now.

Nollywood and the way forward

The state Nollywood is in right now is like a seed of corn dropped into the ground that may rise again. It doesn't mean that it is dead but it has been celebrated and has come to a stage where it must transit to another level but it must shed off its present skin to move to the next level. That's what you are seeing right now. There are a lot of films but people are not buying like they used to. The initial impression of Nollywood is wearing out. The viewers are more informed right now and are more democratic. This is because they have a choice to decide what is good for them. This means that every producer has to meet audience's expectation in terms of packaging and contents so that he or she would be able to compete in this growing market. The era of putting just anything in the market is now over. Now we are moving into a whole new realm, which would be bigger than where we are coming from. But the people that will take over the new realm are probably not the people in the industry today. They would come from the film schools, the music-video producers. That is the direction we are headed. Music videos are now experimenting. Usually, that is where all the new art forms in film and video are tried out and after they are perfected, they can then be deployed into actual filmmaking.

So these groups of youngsters making music videos right now, a lot of them have learnt the art on the Internet and some others have gone to music schools abroad and locally. Very soon they will come in as directors, cinematographers and editors. They will take this industry to a whole new level. The groups of people we have right now keep on doing the same things over and over again. They have mastered bad habits but technology has brought new challenges, the industry becomes even more advanced. Unless people are willing to change, they would be left behind. So I see a new and brighter future. Our musical videos are competing favourably abroad. We are doing very well on MTV and that's what is going to be happening very soon with our movie industry.

What makes a good film

It could be subjective but there are also objective criteria. Film, basically, should entertain the audience. In terms of content, a good movie, in the case of a feature movie, should be able to grab the audience's attention from the beginning, sustain its interest all through the movie and satisfy the audience at the end of the picture. In terms of content, technically, it must be pleasing to the eyes and must work within codes that the viewer is used to and can accept. Even if barriers and conventions are broken, it must be in such a way that the viewer is willing to accept. That is why film is usually described as the medium in which the audience willingly suspends disbelief and when the audience does this, the filmmaker has achieved his aim.

Nollywood Star Actress Kate Henshaw-Nuttal Speaks...

Ever since Nigeria's movie industry came into existence some 15years ago, few actors and actresses can boast of instant fame like Kate Henshaw-Nuttall did when she starred as Omono in one of the pioneering Nollywood flicks –When the Sun Sets.
The story line was interesting and also pathetic; the production was great, while the cast included known names like Bob Manuel.
Kate, who stumbled into the audition for the role, put up such a wonderful performance that many still do not believe it was her debut.
She confessed she couldn't manage the fame: “It was hectic and very serious; the funny thing was that I didn't know it was me they were calling most times because they kept referring to me as Omono. I just couldn't handle it at first, but with time, I began to take control.”
Since then, the movie star has appeared in so many movies, soaps and plays, the most recent being Eve Ensler's award winning play, Vagina Monologues.

Being among those that pioneered Nollywood, the mother of one, does not believe the industry had attained the height it ought to, despite being rated 3rd in the world. To her, “We have barely scratched the surface.”
“The quality of our films has improved but we need to improve on our story lines; there seems to be too much of love stories. We have so many histories in Nigeria that we can dwell on. A film has been shot in Calabar, what about Lagos, about Queen Amina, Moremi, our forefathers and so on? Those kinds of stories and folklores we heard while growing up. We need to explore our culture and heritage and bring them to light. Enough of being too westernised,” she advised.

From her observation, Nollywood was on the right track until the lust for money overtook the intentions of stakeholders in the industry, creating room for mediocrity.
The actress, who has proved her singing ability, complained that producers now rely solely on the ability of the actors and actresses to deliver their roles unlike in the past, when there was enough time for rehearsals and even a cast party.

“These days, there are no time for rehearsals or time for you to read your lines and research on your character, so as to, if possible, discuss with your director on your opinions about the character. It's the sudden lust for money, rather than the art, that brought in much of these irregularities. Everybody just believes in doing the next film; quality became secondary. That was when we got it wrong,” she complained.