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Why art

For as long as I can remember, I have had art around me. I think
I owe it to my mum and dad. Dad bought art works each time he travelled and mum
has always been good with her hands. I grew up with all these beautiful
paintings, sculptures and figurines and I’ve always wondered how they are made
and how structures are formed.

I actually thought I would be an architectural engineer. I made
a lot of cardboard structures, but I fell in love with art more. Back then, I
had no idea that there was any monetary benefit to it, even up to when I gained
admission into Auchi Polytechnic.

Training

I received my basic training at Auchi Polytechnic where I
obtained an OND and HND in 1996 and 1999 respectively. I specialised in
Painting. Most people call it ‘Auchi Art School’ because of its popularity and
probably because it is also responsible for graduating most of the notable
names you hear in art, in the country today.

Medium

Any artist would naturally start with a pencil, graduate to
crayons then delve into water and poster colours, then build up to acrylics and
oils. All these mediums help to build the painter’s ability to manipulate and
master colour. I make use of mostly oil paint but I occasionally use other
mediums, not necessarily pigments.

Influences

My early influences in art were the things I saw around me. I
was exposed to renaissance paintings early in life, so I picked up interest in
that kind of art. I later got to see African arts in paintings and sculpture,
which I also found appealing. So, as renaissance art reflects the Western
culture and environment, and African art has its own depth, I decided to blend
both.

Inspiration

I get most of my inspiration from nature and history. The
natural selection of things has a way of exciting one’s senses. Sometimes, you
won’t see them unless you look from a certain angle or perspective. But believe
me, there’s always something of interest in even the most unlikely of places.

Best work

I would not say I have a best work, as I love all the works I
produce. But if you ask which work makes me smile each time I remember it, I
would say ‘Sax Tunes’. It’s a piece I painted in 2004.

Least satisfying work

“If an art work drags you on and on without a head or a tail,
give it an early death.” I’ve always had this at the back of my mind. I have
not really given any art work the satisfaction of being my least satisfying
work although there is no bad art work as far as I am concerned. I believe all
art is appealing. It just depends on the audience.

Career highpoint

None applicable.

Favourite artist living
or dead

There are very many people out there doing great things in art.
I bump into them very often. But my early favourites would be Leonardo Da
Vinci, Pablo Picasso, Nsikak Essien and Abraham Uyobvisere.

Ambitions

My ambition would be to create art that will appeal to as many
people as it possibly can- not only in my immediate environment but the world
over. Being an artist sometimes isn’t just enough. To be remembered as having
changed the way people think with respect to one another or provoked a certain
degree of thought and emotion in the world would be great.

The literati met with some of the writers whose works have been
nominated for this year’s Nigeria Prize for Literature at Eko Hotel, Lagos, on
Sunday, August 1. The Committee for Relevant Art (CORA) facilitated the forum
where Onukaba Adinoyi-Ojo, Zaynabu Jallo, Ziky Kofoworola, Emmy Idegu, Irene
Salami-Agunloye, Uduak Akpabio, Akinwumi Isola and Uwem Udoko featured. Ahmed
Yerima and Phillip Begho didn’t attend, while a minute-silence was observed in
honour of the late Esiaba Irobi.

The writers offered interesting insights into their works at the
event which also featured performances by chair, Lagos State chapter of the
Association of Nigerian Authors, Dagga Tolar; and the American cast of
‘Preemptive’ and ‘Seven’, staged in Nigerian cities as part of the ‘African
Lives’ project.

The occasion became lively during the discussion session
moderated by actor and poet, Wale Obadeyi. The eight writers had earlier read
from their works while Secretary General of CORA, Toyin Akinosho, had explained
the purpose of the forum.

“One of the reasons why we are doing this is to increase the
opportunities for people to know about the literature produced in the country.
But as any piece of literature is derived from a slice of history, or personal
experience, this event offers us glimpses of ourselves,” Akinosho had stated.

Some insights

Speaking about his ‘The Killing Swamp’, a fictional account of
the last moments of the late Ken Saro-Wiwa, Adinoyi-Ojo, disclosed that he met
the environmental activist only once and didn’t hear from him again until he
read news of his death in the papers.

Jallo said that contrary to the moderator’s position, her
‘Onions Make Us Cry’ is not a feminist play lashing out at men. “It just talks
about domestic violence; violence at all levels; from the home to national and
global level.”

Idegu, a lecturer at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, is a
contrarian who chose to write his ‘Ata Igala the Great’ from the Igala
worldview because he doesn’t believe the Yoruba worldview portrayed by Wole
Soyinka is representative of Nigeria and Africa. He said the Igala believe in
the world of the living, the dead and the space of God.

Her ‘Idia, the Warrior Queen of Benin’, Salami- Agunloye
explained, is “not an historical play though it uses historical materials.” The
African Drama and Women Studies teacher at the University of Jos added that
it’s a feminist play that uses the feminist perspective to show how women are
perceived in Benin kingdom.

Udoko, a political scientist, disclosed that ‘Broken Pots’ was
motivated by Nigeria’s socio-political challenges. He noted that though Nigeria
is a blessed country, our actions “have contributed to the problems we have in Nigeria.”

Head, Performing Arts Department, University of Ilorin,
Kofoworola said his ‘Queen Ghasengeh’ is “experimental even from its title.”
Reacting to Akinosho’s earlier description of events in the play as a family
affair that snowballs into war between two hitherto friendly kingdoms,
Kofoworola said, “It’s not a purely family affair. It’s a universal affair in
content, concept and context.” He added that the work “is not a campaign for
womanhood but a realisation of the fact that women are our mothers.”

Isola, whose ‘Belly Bellows’ centres around the goddess, Oya,
said he tries to show that women are not the weaker vessels people believe they
are. He held that though Yorubas believe women are weak and that though this
might be true going by their physique, it is not true. “At each period of
history, you have women who really bring out the nature of women.” Oya whom the
play centres on, he added, fought for women empowerment. “Women are stronger
than men. We should be bringing up our daughters to feel they are strong and
intelligent like boys,” Isola reiterated.

Drama and history

The talking point of the evening, however, was how historical
materials should be used in fiction. Salami-Agunloye noted that writing fiction
is not necessarily easier than writing true historical accounts. She added that
it depends on the issue being written about.

“You have to be careful the way you interprete history,” Idegu
noted while citing the late Ola Rotimi’s ‘Ovonramwen Nogbaisi’ and Ahmed
Yerima’s ‘The Trial of Oba Ovonramwen’ as examples of works which interpreted
history differently. While the Binis rejected Rotimi’s play which was more
historically correct by saying the Oba bowed for a portrait of the Queen, they
gladly welcomed that of Yerima which downplayed the point to celebrate their
Centenary. “You have to know the dividing line between falsification and
interpretation,” he reiterated.

Isola, who disclosed that the Efunsetan family of Ibadan didn’t
like the way he portrayed their matriarch in his play, noted that, “drama is
not history. It’s a way of interpreting history. Using history in drama is not
very comfortable. If the family is still living, they can challenge you for
trying to blackmail their parents. You have to be careful. It’s only children
of very wicked people that don’t complain.”

Weighing in, Adinoyi-Ojo said he decided on writing about Wiwa,
“because it’s a familiar history. The challenge for me was the process that led
to that end; to be able to hold the audience spellbound until it reaches that
predictable end. It’s been a painful experience. I met this guy, I fell in love
with him despite the fact that he was bloody arrogant. It’s a play that
questions the situation in the Niger Delta that turned Wiwa and the Ogonis into
victims.”

The evening ended with the writers stating their expectations about the
Prize.

The eight writers at the CORA book party speak on their
expectations

Onukaba Adinoyi-Ojo

I hope to win and I want to thank the NLNG for instituting the
prize. I have no doubt that it will go a long way in promoting the development
of our literature in this country and I hope that other institutions will
follow suit.

Zaynabu Jallo

Winning a prize isn’t what should determine your writing. It’s
great to be nominated, it’s good if the prizes do come but it shouldn’t be
influenced by the winning of prize at the end of the day.

Ziky Kofoworola

I was really impressed by the panel of judges who are made up of
those who taught me. People know that the panel of judges are men of timber and
calibre. They are not just local champions, they are international
personalities who are highly reputable and to that extent, whatever verdict
come out of these credible personalities should be acceptable because there is
a lot of wisdom in the choice of the panel. I want to also encourage young
playwrights, it’s not winning, it’s the chance, the opportunity to contribute
to future generations, contribute to humanity. That is what matters.

Emmy Unuja Idegu

The stage we have reached now, I’m not a great football fan but
it’s like two top teams playing 90 minutes and there is no winner. 30 extra
minute no winner. We are now onto penalty shoot out and in penalty shoot out,
the best of players have missed their kicks. As for winning, it’s what the
outside world will call luck but for me it’s entirely the grace of God. So
whoever wins, kudos. Of course, I’m expecting my play to come out tops but the
level we have reached it’s on acceptability and I’m personally encouraged. When
I get back to the class and I’m teaching my students playwriting and I tell
them I’m coming from a function like this, it’s some level of credence. It
means what our lecturer has been telling us, there is some acceptability beyond
the class.

Irene Salami-Agunloye

I’ve enjoyed myself and I feel privileged to be amongst these
eminent personalities. I know that the jury will have a tough time having
listened to everybody here because all our presentations seem to be very good.
Particularly, I’m very happy seeing that my student is also sitting here with
us. For me as a teacher, that’s very good. It means that I have taught well. I
happened to have taught Zaynabu Jallo as an undergraduate so I’m very happy.
For me it’s double joy. I actually expect that my play will come first. But
it’s not all about money, sincerely. I heard about the monetary aspect of the
prize only yesterday and it’s not really about what you will get out of it
financially but the exposure and things attached to it.

Uduak Akpabio

Before a writer puts pen to paper, there is usually one major
expectation; that the general public should read the work otherwise there is no
point in writing. So, for all of us here, NLNG and CORA have really given us
the platform to present these works to the larger public, to make it known, to
make it accessible to people and that is priceless. By the time you go to the
younger generation and you tell them there is something to be gained by
writing, write down your experiences, write down your creativity so that other
people can benefit from it in future and they say: ‘the problem’ Aunty’ is that
writers are poor people’ and you say no, it’s not all about money. And even if
it’s about money, look at NLNG. Someone wrote and could win a prize like this.

Akinwumi Isola

I have the greatest faith in and also greatest respect for the
panel that will judge the play. I assure you whatever decision that they make
is acceptable.

Uwem Udoko

I see my presence here today a very rare opportunity. I want to
thank the NLNG and CORA for taking this initiative and to advise all of us that
we have to be passionate about things happening around us because it’s the
passion that we have as writers that made us to put pen to paper to try to
address the ills in our society. I believe that at the end of it all, whether I
win or not, as long as the problem I try to address in my work is being
addressed, I count myself as a winner.

The much hyped
futuristic movie, Kajola, has been pulled from major Lagos cinemas in
Lagos, barely days after its high profile release. The setback comes
after an avalanche of viewer complaints led to the film’s removal from
the listing of movies at the Silverbird Cinemas, Victoria Island; and
the Ozone Cinema, Yaba.

Dubbed the
country’s first CGI (Computer Generated Images) movie, Kajola gulped a
budget of 130 million naira, making it the most expensive film ever
produced in Nigeria. It received a high profile premiere on July 30 at
the Silverbird Cinemas in Abuja, among many other movie centres.

However, by Monday,
August 2, the movie had been removed from the listing of movies on the
website of Silverbird’s cinema in Lagos, though it had featured in the
brochure. Not discouraged by this discrepancy, NEXT made efforts to
view the movie in Lagos, but found that the movie had been crossed off
the brochure, and had stopped showing.

Speaking with a
ticket sales attendant on this development, it was explained that due
to unprecedented levels of criticism of the movie by those who had
viewed it, ‘Kajola’ was no longer being shown at the Cinema.

“The viewers came
and demanded their money back from the management of the cinema, same
reactions were recorded at Ozone Cinema, so we had to stop showing it,”
said the attendant.

Set in 2059,
‘Kajola’ depicts Nigeria as a totalitarian state, just emerging from a
second civil war. Using technological effects, the movie trailer shows
the Lagos mainland in derelict conditions, with scenes of the Ikeja
metropolis reduced to ruins. The Island, however, has by comparison
recorded immense development, monopolised by the super-rich.

‘Kajola’- a plot to
rid the mainland of its dwindling destitute inhabitants, and rebuild it
to the standard of the island – is hatched. Allen, a rebel leader
learns of this plot and begins to head a rebellion to stop it; a
rebellion that must be crushed by Police Chief, Yetunde. These two,
sworn enemies, soon find that they are but pawns in the ultimate plot.
Kajola’s is a story addressing the need for Nigerians to start
correcting socio-political ills before they develop into a juggernaut
that may threaten our future existence.

Produced by Adonai
Productions and directed by Niyi Akinmolayan, ‘Kajola’ stars Desmond
Elliott, Adonija Owiriwa, and Keira Hewatch, and was billed to be the
next height in movie production in Nigeria. According to the producers,
“Kajola is the upcoming revolutionary action movie, complete with
stunning Hollywood-style visual effects.”

Whatever happened
to the extensive budget, novel animation technology and other
preparations – such as the month-long martial arts training supposedly
undertaken by the stars of the movie – one might never know. The most
positive review gotten so far from viewers was that the big screen
magnified the movie’s animation defects, and that the production was a
waste of movie-viewing time.

Though Akinmolayan
had on Facebook, prior to the movie’s release, expressed hope that the
viewers would “feel the emotion I felt when I made it,” Emmanuel, one
of those at the movie premiere, expressed great disappointment. “I went
to the cinema with great expectations because I thought it would be a
bar-raiser for Nigerian movies. I think the production is appalling.
The acting quality fell below even the Nollywood standard and the
storyline isn’t properly narrated. It is not a movie I’ll want to see
again,” Emmanuel said.

Premiering at the same time as the better-received ‘Ije’ (a movie
that has been hailed by many as a seamless meshing of Nollywood and
Hollywood) could not have done ‘Kajola’ a lot of favours either, as
comparisons are bound to have been made. So, is Kajola a major flop, a
‘turkey’ in Hollywood parlance? Only time will tell. The film’s
producers will be hoping, following its delisting by cinemas, that they
recoup the movie’s gargantuan production costs.

Akinwumi Isola who rarely writes in English explains why his entry for the Prize is in the language.

“When I went to
teach in the United States, I went to visit one of my friends,
Professor Oyelaran, who was also teaching there. We went to
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and I met Leon Hamlin. He used to
organise the National Black Theatre Festival there. When I was
introduced to him as a playwright, he asked me to write a play he can
stage and I agreed. I was prepared to one on Sango in Yoruba before,
but when he asked me to write a play, I decided to write it in English.

“I returned to Nigeria and after I completed the play, I sent it to
them at Winston-Salem but they told me Leon Hamlin had left Winston-
Salem and took money for the festival with him; that they couldn’t
stage the festival again. So, I rewrote it and gave it to University
Press in 2008. They published it in 2009 and felt they should enter it
for the NLNG. They submitted it with my knowledge; it’s not that they
did it behind my back. I would be happier if there is this kind of
prize for writing in Yoruba language, I would like to win that if it is
possible.”

Spoken word performer, Rachel N. Hastings, wowed the audience
with her diction and energy on July 16, when her play, ‘Seven’ was staged at
the National Theatre, Lagos. People intermittently applauded the playwright,
who played the lead role in the unusual drama which probes race, rape,
resistance, reproductive rights issues and women’s sexuality, amongst other
issues.

There were grey areas I wished to clear with the actress after
the play. Luckily, we meet some days before her departure from Nigeria and she
gladly obliges an interview.

Is it possible for seven generations of women to share similar
experiences as portrayed in the play?

“Absolutely,” reiterates Hastings. “We also look at the system,
not the exact same personal experience but the continuity that cuts across
becoming a woman. For instance, how did we become mothers? How do we understand
issues of femininity? How do we pass on what it means to be a good wife? How do
we deal with the men that we have loved and who have loved us in return? What
similarities do we have with children that we raise, and how do they change and
adapt as we move across different lands, borders and nations and the policies
that are in place? I don’t think they will be exact but replicas. We also have
similarities in them all, definitely.”

Avant garde play

Hastings also feels the audience shouldn’t have problems getting
the messages of the interesting but abstract play.

“‘Seven’ is an avant garde abstraction that uses poetry as its
vehicle of expression. We don’t expect everyone to know exactly what we are
talking about, not all. I expect them to say that I’m bothered by this and my
hope is that if they are bothered by that, they are not trying to wait for me
but are actually pulled into it, so they can do their research, talk to their
friends, look up this phrase, look up that phrase and figure out what the
message is. There was a line that used to be in the play when I was doing it as
a solo show, ‘regeneration through intellectual penetration.’ So, everything in
there is an intellectual kind of idea with the goal of generating literacy. I
name drop a lot: Who is Angela Davies, Nikki Giovanni, Sonia Sanchez, Leroy
Jones, August Wilson, Che Guevara. People are like, I don’t know. But they have
rich stories and if we do a little bit of research, then the play becomes a
platform for literacy.”

Initially a 75-minute solo show performed by Hastings across the
US, she had to adapt the play to accommodate other actors during its recently
concluded tour of the UK, Barbados and Nigeria under the ‘Africa Lives’
project. She had to “figure out characterisation, dramatic tensions, the
relationship between these bodies and then how do they come to understand each
other’s stories” in the process of re-writing it.

Double love

Though she now has two versions of the play, Hastings doesn’t
prefer one to the other.

“I love them both and will not prefer either form because they
are two different pieces even though they contain the same general information.
I think the highlight of performing by myself is that if I make a mistake,
nobody knows but me. When I have a cast with me, they know when you mess up and
are going to call you out later. But there’s lots of joy in it as well because
you can laugh with somebody about both the good and the bad of each production.
Then, I get to expand the production through the use of new elements that were
not in the solo show. You have more bodies to create different images; it
becomes a playground where you and your friends are having a good time.”

Big issue

She explains why race is a big issue to her and why it is
reflected in the play: “In the United States, race is not an issue that is
fixed, if you will. The United States will tell you that we live in a colour
blind society; I would argue that we operate on colour; that every situation
you are going through has its colour coded structure that’s already in place.
Race was irrelevant to me growing up, I didn’t care. When I went to university,
people started to ask penetrating questions about my ethnic identity; I mean,
used race as an entry point. So what race are you? The questions were attacks
on my own identity. So my response was I’m going to figure out your system of
race, I’m going to speak back through that system, to explain to you that just
because I have a grandmother who was Filipino, a mother who is Filipino and a
father who is black, it doesn’t mean that I don’t have African descent. My
blackness is through those stories and through those ancestries and that’s what
makes us a stronger collective. You can’t take that from us, you can’t kill
that from us. So if you say you want to take race and operate from it, I’m
going to say, I’m going to use race to tell you my history.”

Personal history

‘Seven’, the story of six generations of first daughters
offering a love letter to the seventh unborn generation is taken from
Hastings’s personal experience. “I’m my mother’s first daughter and my mother
is her mother’s first daughter and her mother is her mother’s first daughter. I
can trace that back to six generations. I don’t know the complete story of each
of these women but I at least have a snapshot from their own lives that fuels
me and I find it really profound to think that I have a legacy of being a first
daughter. If I am blessed with children, these are the things that I would tell
my daughter: you should be aware of the world that you are entering because
it’s both a beautiful place and one full of conflict. But don’t have any fear;
know that you have a long legacy that you are entering into.”

Performance chose the author of ‘Metamorphosis’ and
‘Sole/Daughter’. Coming from a lower middle class family and a father who
enrolled his children in summer camps where they were exposed to several arts
activities, she eventually gravitated towards it. “Without even knowing that I
would be part of the theatrical world, here I was learning elements of
performance. And then I went on in high school to enrol in the humanities; an
International Studies Programme that had politics, literature and history.
Writing was always my avenue to be able to express myself. I went to college
and the next thing I knew I am performing all over the nation and here I am in
Africa doing my stuff,” she states.

Blessed to be here

One of the high points of the Nigerian tour for Hastings was the
student’s show at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife. She says, “There is
something completely different and yet rather good when you perform for
students. It is one thing when you have people who you admire tell you good
job, it’s another thing to have the students who are looking to become what you
are, tell you that you did something well. We performed at Ife; the stage had
its own issues in terms of the level of noise, the confined space and silence
so that people can focus solely on the platform but the energy was so alive on
that stage because it was full of students of Dramatic Arts.

“Afterwards, it was a clamour of I want to know this, I want to know that. I
want to continue this conversation; please sign me right now… the next thing
I knew I am riding on people’s neck and arm. It was very inspiring for me and
it made me feel the purpose behind this work. Even if they don’t understand all
of it, it still penetrated them to the point where they felt alive and that
made me feel so much alive on stage. Ife is the centre of the Yoruba worldview
so to perform in such a spiritually and historically rich location, it added
more feel to it. It’s my first time in Africa and I’m blessed that Nigeria is
the first place I came to. They tell us negative things but it’s not true at
all.”

The United State’s mission in Nigeria has partnered with the
Abuja Film Village International to present the American Documentary Showcase
in three cities in Nigeria in the first week of August.

The event featured 11 documentaries by American filmmakers and
took place in Kano on August 2 and 3; Abuja on August 4 and Lagos on August 5
and 6. In Abuja, the film village had put a plan in place to hold master
classes for Nigerian film professionals.

The classes were led by two of US filmmakers, Kim Snyder and
Burt Weiss. Snyder’s documentary was one of those screened during the festival.
Weiss came with a view to discovering Nigerian documentaries that can be shown
in the United States at a film festival in Dallas, Texas, later this month.

Speaking at a press conference in the film village ahead of the
showcase, Victoria Sloan, cultural affairs officer for the U.S. Embassy in
Abuja, said that the documentaries would show Nigerians a different side of the
American public.

“Documentary films are an excellent – a most excellent way – for
countries to get to know one another,” she said. “They don’t have the kind of
messages that you see in the blockbuster films. They often are more
thought-provoking, perhaps more disturbing, maybe more inspiring because they
are based on real life.”

Segun Oyekunle, managing-director and chief operating officer of
the Abuja Film Village, said he hoped the event would help raise the standards
for Nollywood movies. He noted that while Nigeria was the second most prolific
producers of movies – behind India’s Bollywood – its profits and revenues were
near the bottom.

“It is because the quality the length and the script is so
poor,” he said. “Film documentaries help raise consciousness and inspire
people.”

However, some at the conference were wary of the organisers’
intentions, wondering if the event was an attempt at laundering America’s image
abroad.

Sloan was quick to reassure that the venture was not a
propaganda or profit-making scheme.

“The thing about selling the American idea is that you don’t
have to buy it,” she said. “You can’t make a mind accept an idea that it
doesn’t want to accept.”

She said showings in each city would be free and open to the
public and that people were free to form their own opinions on each film shown.

Challenges for the venue

Other concerns centred on the Abuja Film Village’s continued
lack of a permanent site. According to its brochure, the village was slated to
be a destination for artists around Nigeria and the world who wanted to improve
their art. The village was to feature soundstages, viewing rooms, practical
workshops and classes. However, it is currently situated in a two-storey
building in Maitama, Abuja.

Mr. Oyekunle assured reporters that the site’s challenges were
“mostly administrative” and that site’s concept design had already been
completed. He said that the project had garnered the support of the Minister of
Information and that money had been optioned from the National Assembly.

“What is holding us is infrastructure,” he said. “We will not go
forward unless we have the infrastructure in place, otherwise we’ll end up like
a lot of satellite towns with structures but no infrastructure.”

However, Oyekunle said he could not give any concrete details
about upcoming plans as he did not have the numbers at hand and he did not want
to be misinterpreted.

Defending the partnership with the village, Ms. Sloan said the
site had a track record for holding successful master classes. It had
facilities that could accommodate up to 40 people, though the public showings
in Abuja would take place at the Cyprian Ekwensi Centre, which can hold up to
500 people.

“There may be other locations where we could do this but, this
has the background in filmmaking that we need,” said filmmaker Sani Balewa, who
attended the conference. “This is opening up a discussion between professionals
and a lot can come out of it.”

Mr. Oyekunle expressed his hope that the event would pave the way
for future cinematic collaborations between the United States and Nigeria. He
looked forward to more master classes and more foreign speakers.

“No film industry can live in isolation,” he said. “These are the things we
want to do to help the Nigerian film industry. You can’t quantify the value it
will add, but eventually it will show up in the kinds of films that will be
made.”

After a marketing blitz, it was with a lot of anticipation that
I went to watch the much hyped Ijé, featuring Genevieve Nnaji, Omotola
Jalade-Ekeinde and Ulrich Que.

Warning: spoiler content

The movie begins with Chioma (Nnaji) arriving in Los Angeles to
a hostile immigration reception. After battling her way through, she gets to
her pre-booked hotel and encounters her first disappointment: the hoteliers
have increased their price without notifying her, in a classic hustle. She has
to pay $50 a week more than budgeted.

The next scene introduces Anya (Jalade-Ekeinde), Chioma’s
sister, who is awaiting trial for a triple homicide. She’s the reason why
Chioma, who works in a Nigerian bank, has come to the US. In that first and
rather touching scene, Chioma uses the ruse of freedom of religion to get to
see her sister sans the glass partition. In that scene, we are told Anya’s side
of the story, that she did not kill her husband. She also informs Chioma that
her lawyer had asked her to plea-bargain.

The next day, Chioma goes to the lawyer’s office to speak about
her sister’s case. Anya’s lawyer, Patricia Barone (Anne Carey) has made up her
mind that there is no other way for the matter to progress except by
plea-bargain. She comes across as believing that Anya was actually guilty.
Meanwhile, a chance meeting outside the courtroom with another lawyer shows
Chioma that not all American lawyers are cold blooded. Jalen (Que) has just
been fired for refusing to plea-bargain on behalf of a client, thus losing a
murder trial. His demeanour persuades Chioma to approach him about becoming her
sister’s lawyer.

The build-up to the trial follows with the usual American legal
rigmarole: a prosecution lawyer who sees cases like this as mere statistics to
add to his already bulging belt of convictions, some visits by Chioma to Anya’s
residence, and an introduction to Anya’s neighbour.

As time goes on, it becomes clear that Anya is not exactly
telling the truth about what happened on the night that she killed at least two
men (she admitted to killing two, but not her husband), and the onus is now on
Chioma to find the sixth person that was in the house on that fateful night.

In between all this, there are flashbacks to the sisters’
childhood which, from the background, is somewhere in a village in the north-central
region of Nigeria. Their childhood had all the ingredients of a Cinderella
story: poor girls who were eventually transported to some form of success, but
not before passing through some rough times, most notably a pogrom in the
village that they lived in.

An assessment

The acting in Ijé was excellent. There was not a misplaced
delivery in the entire movie, and the emotions were real. There was also no
shortage of the occasional pun, which showed the oft seen stupidity of life as
a foreigner in Western lands. I found the scene with the Immigrations officer
at the beginning to be a classic, something that Nigerians who have been
through Schipol Airport, especially, should be quite familiar with. Good
directing.

However, the story was way too predictable, and that I found to
be the low point of the movie. Unfortunately, that sort of low point is all
movie long, and one that I could not quite get over. For example, from the
moment that Chioma met Jalen, you could see that they were going to end up in
bed. There was no subtlety about that fact at all, and this was a recurring
theme throughout Ijé. I frequently found myself predicting what would happen in
the next scene with increasing accuracy. Not good at all.

What for me was the most criminal thing that the storytellers
did was the dropped themes. There were at least two themes that could have been
explored in greater depth in Ijé, and all of them were given only a cursory
examination. From the first few scenes, the plot could have developed into a
greater examination of the problems that people from third world countries face
when they travel to the developed world. The discrimination, deprivations and
denials, cue the immigrations officer, the hotel owner, the police and the
reporter.

The second theme that dropped was an exploration of rape in
Nigeria. For me, this was the most important theme. This movie could have, and
should have been a great opportunity to explore the culture of silence in
Nigeria that greets incidents such as female exploitation, and the fact that
many Nigerian immigrants take such attitudes with them to their new countries,
hence Anya’s refusal to tell all of her story at the beginning. How many girls
in Nigeria have been raped and pretended that nothing happened afterwards
because of the stigma that our society attaches to rape victims?

Despite the evidently talented actors on display, Ijé failed to
come out of the trap that a lot of Nigerian films fall into, namely: dwelling
for too long on certain pointless scenes, and as a result running out of the
time required to tell a proper story. After the very excellent ‘The Figurine’
from last year, Ijé was a disappointing step backwards.

Ratings

Standout performance: Diana Yekinni, though she had a very
minor role in the movie. She played the part of a typical African American who
has been processed through the system enough times not to care anymore, with
aplomb.

Nollywood cast: Both Nnaji and Jalade-Ekeinde acquitted
themselves very well in this movie. They fit their roles to perfection and
never put a foot wrong. They are a credit to Nollywood, and I for one would be
proud if all our actors can aspire to lofty performances like these. Aki and
Paw-Paw take note.

American cast: After ‘Through the Glass’ by Stephanie Okereke,
I came to the conclusion that Nigerian movies made in America went to acting
schools out there and picked the bottom of the class. Ije proved me wrong. The
players were all into their roles. For someone who did not do much in the
movie, the performance by the silent jailor was good. I just loved the way she
would interject, “five minutes”.

Naija scenes: Seriously, how stereotypical can you get? This is
not to say that there are no beyond-poor people in Nigeria, but must we always
do that to ourselves? And given that the girls were supposed to be in their
middle 20s to early 30s, you have to wonder when this supposed pogrom took
place. Again, I am tired of African villages always being typecast as idyllic
to Western eyes. Then there is the permanently recurring violence. Even in the
absence of reliable statistics, I would still beat my chest and say that more
people are violently murdered in Compton, Los Angeles, than in Mushin, Lagos,
each day.

Directing: Chineze Anyaene gives a decent quality movie,
especially if you are into going to the movies just for the popcorn.

Story: unfortunately this was a serious letdown. This was way
too dull and predictable for me.

Overall: This movie promised so much, but delivered so little. I will not
watch it a second time, unlike The Figurine, which I am still looking to
download (sorry, buy).

The Last Airbender
is based on the anime series, ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’, which ran
on Nickeldeon for three seasons starting from 2005. The story line is
basically the same. This movie is based on the first season of the
series. The other two series may be portrayed in sequels. This
probability is very high against the sequels, judged against this
highly unimpressive first part.

According to the
story, the earth is divided into four nations capable of “bending”
(controlling) the elements – fire, water, air and earth. Each nation
has a mastery of one element. But amongst the Airbenders is the Avatar,
the only person in his generation who is able to bend all four
elements; and tasked with maintaining peace amongst the four nations.
Raised by monks, the Avatar’s destiny was only revealed to him when he
turned twelve. Frightened by the weight of the responsibility ahead of
him and wanting instead to live a normal life, he runs away and is
never seen again.

The action begins
hundred years later when the Avatar, also called Aang, is discovered in
and rescued from an iceberg by Katara (Nicola Peltz), a Waterbender and
her brother Sokka (Jason Rathbone). During the period of Aang’s
disappearance, the three other nations have been subdued by the Fire
Nation or Firebenders who have also annihilated the entire Air Nation,
making the Avatar the last Airbender.

Now with the help
of Katara and Sukko, Aang will seek to take his place amongst the
nations by bringing about peace, as dictated by his destiny. But he has
a problem. Aang had not being taught how to master any of the other
elements apart from his own. Also, hot on his heels as he flees from
the murderous Firebenders is Prince Zukko (Dev Patel of ‘Slumdog
Millionaire’), the disgraced son of the Fire Lord Ozai. Zukko is
determined to capture the Avatar and take him back to his nation in
order to regain his honour and place amongst his people.

The movie has been
classified as an epic, fantasy and action. Being an epic, it also
contains some drama. There were slight touches of comedy with Sokka,
often serving as the comic relief. However, the comedy, when it came,
often fell flat like those jokes you have to replay in your head in
other to get the punch-line. Rathbone is also not very good at being
funny or the butt of a joke.

The fight scenes
also lacked excitement. Noah Ringer who stars as Aang, the Avatar is
currently the Karate champion in his home-state of Texas, USA. There is
only the barest whisper of this in his stunts. The choreography and the
accompanying computer enhancements were ordinary and – sorry – flat.
Dev Patel in particular when he was not over-acting, just basically
displayed ineptitude in portraying even the simplest of martial arts
skills, a high-kick, convincingly. The CGI was lackluster and did not
wow. Compared to available CGI technology, this was really a
disappointment.

Having never
watched the anime series, I expected to watch the movie without any
sentimental bias whatsoever – just basically wanted to enjoy a movie by
a director I like, M. Night Shyamalan. But towards the middle of the
movie what should have been pure unadulterated fun became a chore and I
could not wait to get off my seat.

Previous M. Night
Shyamalan movies are not known for their action. They are
suspense-filled and often backed by good story-telling. This mix worked
for the critically-acclaimed and award-winning ‘Sixth Sense’, helped in
‘Unbreakable’, was endurable in ‘Lady in the Water’ and totally
nerve-wracking in Signs.

In The Last
Airbender, although I found the narration interesting to listen to and
actually liked the almost formal dialogue, these do nothing to help the
movie. Based on its origins, the movie is meant to be mostly
action-based so here the Shyamalan style would not and did not work at
all. That it was actually applied, shows that the director has great
difficulty in moving away from what he knows. Judging by his dropping
popularity right from the Sixth Sense, The Last Airbender (his most
expensive movie so far) might just have been the vehicle to propel him
back to the genius list but instead it props him higher up the list of
over-hyped talents.

For a much anticipated adaption in the league of Lord of the Rings
and the Harry Potter series, the Last Airbender may very well deserve
the angst it will get from the typical sentimentally-biased audience
and then some more rage.