The Scramble for Nollywood and The Status of Lagos State
Everyone wants to have a bite of a hot pizza.
I hope the current scramble for Nollywood by the major streaming video services from America is not like the scramble for Africa by European powers (between 1881 and 1914).
Entertainment is Power
I wonder if the Nigerian government knows the dynamics of the overwhelming power of our entertainment industry beyond the glitz and razzmatazz and surplus economic returns.
The internet has become the most powerful vehicle of the entertainment industry since the inventions of the cinema and television.
The sociocultural, socioeconomic and sociopolitical powers of entertainment can define and determine the future of a nation and the civilization of the people.
Entertainment generates more revenues for America than oil.
That is why California is the richest state in the United States.
The economy of California, with a gross state product of $3.2 trillion as of 2019, is the largest sub-national economy in the world.
California is the home of Hollywood, Silicon Valley and Mountain View, the headquarters of the entertainment industry and of the Big Techs, including Apple, Alphabet and Meta. And is home to five of the world's ten largest companies by market capitalization and four of the world's ten richest people.
Without the internet, these Big Techs will not be Big and without entertainment, they will not become the biggest tech giants in the world.
Lagos is the powerhouse of the economy of Nigeria and the capital of the entertainment industry in Nigeria, the home of Nollywood and the home of Yabacon, the Silicon Valley of Nigeria where there are the first tech unicorns in Africa. And Lagos can become to Nigeria what California is to America.
As it has been noted that if California were a country, it would be the fifth largest economy in the world, likewise Lagos would be the fifth-largest economy in Africa if it were a country.
The realization of the awesome developments of tech startups connected to the entertainment industry in Lagos is what has attracted the biggest American streaming video services to Nollywood.
Disney already has a base in Nigeria with the long term partnership with Kugali Media.
The following is the introduction of my yet to be published book, "Barack Obama, The American Dream and the American Nightmare"
For all my fellow bloggers in the blogosphere From those croaking like frogs on the logs To those barking and howling like dogs on their blogs Who are not afraid to break the news Like backbenchers screaming from the pews.
Introduction
"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." ~ François Marie Arouet de Voltaire
"Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough."~ Franklin D. Roosevelt "Once you hear the details of victory, it is hard to distinguish it from a defeat." ~Jean-Paul Sartre –posted 02/10/2008 at 10:46:07
Barack Obama has caused me to write a book I would not have written. His political audacity provoked me to write it. Barack Obama is like seeing the American Dream unfolding like the petals of a rose before our very eyes. I am not a true artist if I cannot depict what I see. Even a mirage forms an image we cannot deny. I will separate the fantasy from the reality of this American Dream. Yet Barack Obama would not have become so dramatic without the ironic passion of his fanatics. Barack Obama may end up as a cosmic irony in the political history of America. May God save Barack Obama from the fates of these interesting times.
–posted 02/10/2008 at 10:23:56
I have seen the parade of ignorance In the masquerade of arrogance.
I prefer to call this book political graffiti on the current affairs in American politics, some aspects of global politics, and other do-or-die affairs. Please read at your own risk. Most of the political notes are (1) comments I posted in my replies to various news reports and articles on the Huffington Post and (2) informed commentaries on my political blogs. The comments are regarding the principal presidential candidates of the Democratic Party in the course of their political campaigns for the presidential caucuses and primaries before the presidential election in 2008. The headings of the comments and commentaries are the titles of the specific news reports and articles on the Huffington Post and other sources; therefore, you can use the titles to trace the sources online. Reading the original reports, articles, and blogs will give you more details and make it clear why I made the comments or wrote the informed commentaries.
It is also an important documentary on how Barack Obama emerged as the first black President of America in the most turbulent period since World War Two and will be of immense benefit to everyone who is interested in the intellectual and political consciousness of Obama in the study of his life and the history of American politics in the 21st century.
The notes and commentaries are testimonies of my cosmopolitan political inclinations. I enjoyed the excitement of participating in the discussions on the dialectics, ethics, and polemics of American democracy and the glaring contrasts with the contortions and distortions of democracy in Nigerian politics and of course on the madness of terrorism.
All suicide bombers are mentally retarded morons. We should ban any religion promoting terrorism. Lest we forget, rape is also terrorism. Honor killing is equally terrorism. All terrorists should be arrested and deported to the moon where they actually belong since they are worshippers of the moon. No wonder madness is associated with the moon’s cycle. We, the civilized ones, cannot be safe in a world where terrorists are on the rampage. We must get rid of them before they get rid of us. No need for Guantanamo Bay—just deport them to the moon.
–posted 02/01/2008 at 14:24:47
Mrs. Stassinopoulos Huffington is my humorous address for the irresistibly bold and beautiful Arianna Huffington, the celebrated publisher of the Huffington Post and author of many books. This book is meant for entertainment and enlightenment, so enjoy.
~ Ekeyerengozi Michael Chima Orikinla Osinachi January 14, 2008 Bonny Island, Nigeria
Mo Abudu and Chioma Ude Have the Best International PR for Nollywood
Mo Abudu, the Founder and CEO of the EbonyLife Group and Chioma Ude, the Founder and CEO of the annual Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) have the best international public relations profiles for Nollywood and the Nigerian film industry.
Both of them understand the importance and significance of international public relations for the promotion of Nollywood as a global brand of the Nigerian film industry. And that is why both of them are the most recognised and have been attracting international partnerships with the leading film and TV entertainment companies in the world, including Netflix, Sony Pictures and Disney.
Mo was the first to gain international recognition with the influential Hollywood Reporter calling her Africa's answer to Oprah Winfrey and named her among Hollywood Reporter's MIPCOM's 25 Most Powerful Women in Global TV.
Then the highly esteemed Forbes magazine named her Africa's Most Successful Woman.
In 2021, She was selected to become a Voting Member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for the annual Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars.
Her international honours within 11 years have been really groundbreaking as a trailblazer for Nigerian women in the global entertainment industry.
Forbes Africa recognised Mo Abudu as the first African woman to own a Pan-Africa TV channel in 2013; Entrepreneur of the Year award by Women Week in New York in 2014; appointed a Director of the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences responsible for staging the annual International Emmy Awards.and later appointed her as the first African Chair of the 47th annual International Emmy Awards Gala, held in New York on Monday November 25, 2019; named on the Power list 2018 of UK's top 100 most influential people of African and Caribbean descent; the first African to be awarded the MIPTV's 2019 Médailles d'Honneur, in Cannes, France; named in the Powerlist 2020 of the Top 100 most influential people in the UK of African/African-Caribbean descent and featured in the Greatest Blacks Ever: Top 100 Blacks Who Changed the World for (Peace: Progress: Prosperity).
Mo did not receive all the accolades of her outstanding achievements overnight. She started with her "Moments with Mo" on TV like the Oprah Winfrey Show that inspired her as she told the New York Times in her recent most comprehensive interview last week.
She talked about her influential family backgrounds, childhood dreams, education and top flight professional career as brand ambassador for AVON Cosmetics for the African market; HR consultant with Atlas Recruitment Consultancy firm in the UK; the Starform Group; Head of HR for Arthur Andersen and HR & Training for ExxonMobil. She was the Founder of Vic Lawrence & Associates Limited.
Her passion for the film and TV entertainment industry is powered by her vision to excel, succeed and triumph in spite of the economic and societal challenges of Nigeria in competition with the best in the world.
Chioma Ude has paid her dues before she became the first Nigerian woman to be in Variety's Annual International Women’s Impact Report for 2020
Before, Chioma became a trailblazer for Nollywood, she has been an Amazon in Corporate Nigeria as the Managing Director and CEO of JATA Logistics Ltd. Then she invested in the blossoming Nollywood as she co-organised and co-hosted the successful 6th ION International Film Festival (IONIFF) (a touring festival originating from Hollywood) in 2009 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State with the organizing committee of experts, including Peace Anyiam-Osigwe the founder and CEO of the annual AMAA Awards, Caterina Bortolussi, the co-producer of ION International Film Festival, Soledad Grognett, Ilaria Chessa, June Givanni, Alessandra Speciale and Celine Loader. Then the following year, 2010, she founded and organised the first edition of the annual Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) in December and she has made it the numero uno of film festivals in Nigeria and West Africa.
She has invested her resources and quality time on the international profile of the film festival as I reported in my widely circulated "AFRIFF International Film Festival Brings Hollywood-Style Glitz and Glamour To Lagos"
AFRIFF has awarded scholarships for international courses in filmmaking and film studies in America and France.
In 2019, Chioma became the Co-Founder and Group CEO of Envivo Communications Limited, a multifaceted convergence of the entertainment industry, educational developments and technological applications for the fintech Industry.
Envivo launched the nVivo TV, a
free video on demand streaming platform that offers diverse content from the best content providers in the world.
By their visionary leadership, Mo Abudu and Chioma Ude have shown us the Big Picture of Nollywood of the future as one of the most dynamic creative developments in the global entertainment industry of the 21st century.
Leader McCarthy's Statement on President Biden's Afghanistan Speech
August 16, 2021.
Washington, D.C. – House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA-23) released the following statement following President Biden's address to the nation on Afghanistan:
“After six days of silence, President Biden finally addressed the worst foreign policy disaster in decades. His remarks did not answer any questions about the disastrous troop withdrawal that has failed to protect American citizens, put thousands of American troops in harm's way, and heightened the threat of terrorism around the world. But President Biden is right about one thing: the buck stops with him. He owes the American people a cohesive plan to get every American out of Afghanistan immediately and safely, target terrorists wherever they seek refuge, and secure our border.
“President Biden’s poor judgment produced the worst possible outcome in Afghanistan in only a matter of weeks. He has done long-term damage to America's credibility and our capabilities. The American people, and especially our troops who have sacrificed so much, deserve more than this catastrophic leadership and empty words.”
First Bollywood Film Adaptation of a Nigerian Novel: Sin is a Puppy that Follows You Home
"You cannot be a good filmmaker if you are not a good storyteller."
- Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima.
A good filmmaker is a good filmmaker regardless of the gender, race, tribe, class, religion and location. And every good filmmaker should be rated by the quality of the work whether in #Hollywood, #Bollywood or #Nolllywood .
It is unacceptable to me to rate a filmmaker by the color, class or location in the world.
Every good black or African filmmaker should be rated and valued as every good white Caucasian or Asian filmmaker.
Author of "In the House of Dogs", "The Prophet Lied", "Scarlet Tears of London", "Diary of the Memory Keeper", "The Victory of Muhammadu Buhari and the Nigeria: My Eyewitness Account of the 2015 Presidential Election" and other books.
The Highly-Anticipated Eddie Murphy-Starring Sequel to the Classic Comedy will Launch Globally on Amazon Prime Video on March 5, 2021
Culver City, CA – November 20, 2020 – Amazon Studios has acquired worldwide rights to Coming 2 America from Paramount Pictures. This long-awaited sequel to the iconic comedy Coming to Americawill launch worldwide in over 240 countries and territories on Prime Video on March 5, 2021.
Set in the lush and royal country of Zamunda, newly-crowned King Akeem (Eddie Murphy) and his trusted confidante Semmi (Arsenio Hall) embark on an all-new hilarious adventure that has them traversing the globe from their great African nation to the borough of Queens, New York – where it all began. Original cast favorites from Coming to America return including King Jaffe Joffer (James Earl Jones), Queen Lisa (Shari Headley), Cleo McDowell (John Amos), Maurice (Louie Anderson) and the motley barbershop crew. Joining this star-studded ensemble are Wesley Snipes, Leslie Jones, Tracy Morgan, Jermaine Fowler, Bella Murphy, Rotimi, KiKi Layne, Nomzamo Mbatha and Teyana Taylor, making Coming 2 America the most anticipated comedy film of the year.
“Coming to America was a cultural phenomenon that is one of the most loved and celebrated comedies of all time,” said Jennifer Salke, Head of Amazon Studios. “Thanks to Eddie Murphy’s comedic genius along with the brilliant filmmakers, writers and fabulous cast, we couldn’t be more excited to celebrate this new adventure. We know audiences around the world will fall in love with this hilarious, joyful movie that will surely become a timeless favorite.”
“What could be better than a return to Zamunda? We are so excited for Amazon Studios to bring Eddie Murphy and Coming 2 America to a worldwide audience where they can laugh again with characters they have loved for 30 years, and meet new ones that they will love for years to come,” said producer Kevin Misher.
Coming 2 America is directed by Craig Brewer, from Paramount Pictures in association with New Republic Pictures, and produced by Eddie Murphy Productions and Misher Films. The screenplay is written by Kenya Barris, Barry W. Blaustein and David Sheffield, with story by Barry W. Blaustein, David Sheffield and Justin Kanew, based on characters created by Eddie Murphy. The producers are Kevin Misher and Eddie Murphy, executive producers are Brian Oliver, Bradley Fischer, Valerii An, Kenya Barris, Charisse Hewitt-Webster, Michele Imperato Stabile and Andy Berman.
Coming to America opened in theaters in 1988 to become a box office sensation achieving over $288 million in total worldwide box office gross. The comedy was translated to over 25 languages around the globe, known in other countries as Un Prince à New York in France, Der Prinz aus Zamunda in Germany, Un Príncipe en Nueva York throughout Latin America, Il Principe Cerca Moglie in Italy and many more – to become the iconic movie we all know and love today. Beyond its financial success, the film was a cultural zeitgeist that was not only timeless but also a proudly celebrated American comedy, making the film a go-to classic across generations. The memorable characters and relatable story of a fish-out-of-water connected audiences around the world, which is why fans have made it a repeat-viewing over the years.
About Amazon Studios Amazon Studios is the home for talent, creating and producing original films and television series for a global audience. Original series all premiere exclusively on Amazon Prime Video, which is available in over 200 countries and territories. Recent hit Amazon Original series include the Emmy Award-winning comedies Fleabag, created by and starring Emmy Award-winner Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel from Emmy Award-winners Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino, as well as the action thriller drama Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan starring John Krasinski, the irreverent superhero series The Boys, and fantasy drama Carnival Row starring Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevingne; Amazon Originals also include culturally relevant and buzzed about content such as Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty music and fashion event, Donald Glover’s Guava Island and Chasing Happiness, a documentary about pop superstars the Jonas Brothers.
In film, Amazon Studios produces and acquires original movies for theatrical release and exclusively for Amazon Prime Video. In 2017, Amazon Studios became the first streaming service to win Oscars for Manchester by the Sea and The Salesman. Recent Amazon original movies include the subversive comedy Borat Subsequent Moviefilm with Sacha Baron Cohen, Troop Zero starring Viola Davis and Allison Janney, Tom Harper’s The Aeronauts starring Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne, Scott Z. Burns’ The Report, Alma Har’el’s Honey Boy and the Academy Award nominated Les Misérables directed by Ladj Ly. The 2020 slate include the family comedy My Spy starring Dave Bautista and Chloe Coleman, Chemical Hearts starring Lili Reinhart, Sound of Metal starring Riz Ahmed, Sylvie’s Love with Tessa Thompson and Nnamdi Asomugha, Alan Ball’s Uncle Frank with Paul Bettany and Sophia Lillis, I’m Your Woman starring and produced by Rachel Brosnahan and more. In addition, the originals film slate includes a number of diverse first-time feature filmmakers – Blow the Man Down directed by Danielle Krudy and Bridget Savage Cole, Selah and The Spades from director Tayarisha Poe, The Vast of Nightdirected by Andrew Patterson and 7500 directed by Patrick Vollrath.
Fincho: The Making of the First Nigerian Film in Colour By Sam Zebba
Sam Zebba directing "Fincho" in Nigeria.
Many people have read about Sam Zebba's "Fincho", the first film shot in colour in Nigeria in 1955 and post production was done in the United States of America and it was released in 1957. But majority of Nigerians and others have little or no knowledge about the great filmmaker, Sam Zebba who passed away in Israel on February 27, 2016.
I have decided to publish this comprehensive documentary report on him, comprising his own memoir on how he made "Fincho"; an article on him before he passed on and a memorial tribute written by David (Dudi) Sebba published by www.esra-magazine.com.
What Sam Zebba documented on the circumstances of the events that occurred during the making of "Fincho" can be a fanstatic movie. And publishing it on a Nigerian website is important in recognition of the Nigerian cast and crew. They have made history and we must remember them in the history of Nigerian cinema.
Fincho- Adventure in Nigeria 1955:
Adventure in the interior of Nigeria
One night in 1954, at the home of my London relatives, Boria and Rena Behrman, Boria showed some 8mm color footage he had taken at their timber concession in Nigeria. The Behrman family had been in the timber business for several generations, still in the ‘old country’ (Latvia), and the Nigeria concession was a new extension of their UK firm, Finch & Company. What I saw there was formidable. Giant trees were being felled in the jungle and hundreds of bare-handed African workers were pulling the heavy trunks through the mud.
I realized that this could be a starting point for an extraordinary documentary and perhaps even more than that. For some time I had felt a strong desire to move from the short film, my medium hitherto, to full-length form. If I could find a human story to fit into the tree felling process, perhaps the chance of realizing this was here.
Boria generously said I could stay in one of the bungalows built for the white staff at the concession, and film whatever I wanted. Admittedly, it would be foolhardy to go script-less into the unknown, but therein lay the challenge. And so, toward the end of the Central African rainy season in 1955, equipped with a 16mm Arriflex camera, a portable sound recording device, and a reasonable amount of Kodachrome color film, I set out on a flight to Lagos, the capital of Nigeria at the time, and from there, mostly over unpaved and ill-maintained dirt roads, passing through two enormous clusters of mud huts, Ibadan and Benin City, to the Finch timber concession in the faraway Kingdom of the Olowo (Ruler) of Owo.
The bungalow I was given was spacious, though the heat was unbearable. In the outdoor kitchen, an attendant called “house-boy” or “boy” for short, no matter what his age, was on duty 24 hours a day. Plagued at night by mosquitoes infiltrating my net, I could hear the house-boy in the kitchen slapping his back and shoulders incessantly, hunting the malaria-carrying little devils. He did not have the luxury of a mosquito net, nor did he have a bed.
With time I got used to the heat and humidity, and the mosquitoes at night. I almost managed to enjoy an imaginary air-conditioner before falling asleep - someone had kindheartedly handed me a copy of Sir Edmund Hillary’s and Tenzing Norgay’s "The Conquest of Everest", which kept me cool throughout my stay on the concession.
In Owo I met the Olowo, a big man amply robed in a manner quite inconsistent with the climate. His palace was a large two-storey mud structure painted white, and it seemed densely populated. “Who are all these people?” I enquired. “These are the King’s wives and children,” I was told.
Although I examined everything I saw as a potential focal point for the film’s story, I soon realized that neither the harsh colonial exploitation of the natives nor the social hierarchy of traditional African rulers would be my anchor. It was the tree-felling enterprise itself, and the impact this had on those caught in its advance.
My guide and mentor on the concession was an Englishman named Tony Lewis, the second-in-command at Finch and an old hand in the African timber trade. To the Africans he spoke a broken English, which I thought at first to be his own invention, but soon discovered this was genuine 'Pidgin,' a simplified English language in use there, delightful and humorous, and the only way the three main ethnic groups in Nigeria - Yoruba, Ibo, and Hausa - could communicate with each other. I promptly decided that wherever possible this would be the film’s language.
“I de go” was present tense. “I done go” was past. “I go go” was future. “Make you go bringam” was a command. Just a minute was “wait small.” Dialogue, such as “na whei he dei?” (now, where is he?) “he dei for house,” referred to either male, female, or neuter. Father was “Small Fahda,” while “Big Fahda” meant Grandfather. “Plenty palavah” was big trouble. Great satisfaction: “He de tickle me propa.” Disbelief: “na lie! You think you go deceive me like small boy?” Two Africans talking to a White Man: “Sah. Dis man, he be my brudda.” “Oh, really? Same mudda same fahda?” “No, Sah. My brudda.”
A most impressive man was the concession’s CEO. A WW2 ex-military man with a hyphenated name, Gordon Parry-Holroyd seemed the quintessence of a gentleman and servant of the Empire. He had a family and a cottage in the Midlands of England, but after the war, preferred the wilds of Africa to life in civilization. He was a mix of tenacity and gentleness, reminiscent of Conrad’s Lord Jim, with a tinge of a "Heart of Darkness".
Slowly the story I was looking for began to materialize in my mind. The protagonist would be a young African torn between the preservation of age-old traditions and the acceptance of encroaching modernization. His final choice would ultimately be his embracing the modern world.
To tell the story, other characters would have to be created. Representing the conservative view would be the village’s spiritual leader, the feared and angry Jujuman. Pitted against him would be the young schoolmaster who champions progress and enlightenment. Into the village enters a white timber extractor, “Mistah” Finch, who persuades the village chief to allow the felling of trees, but is refused permission to hire local labor. Our protagonist, eager to marry his girl but perpetually short of the needed dowry to buy her from her father, starts working for the White Man in spite of the proscription. Called now “Fincho” because he is “dancing around with the White Man”, he becomes something of a leader, many young men joining him. But when new earth- moving equipment is brought in to replace the local labor, violence is about to erupt against the White Man. It is Fincho who succeeds in calming the uprising, renewing the work, and thus bringing about momentous change in his community. He even triggers an understanding between the Jujuman and the schoolmaster.
The film would alternate between scenes of direct dialogue and voice-over narration, and the narrator would be Fincho himself. Many of the scenes would show local color, like at the market or at the Chief’s court, and the awesome tree-felling process would be followed in detail. Some scenes, like Fincho’s engagement in negotiations between the two families, or the naming ceremony of his first-born, were actually written out in detail by the cast and crew on rainy days when shooting was impossible.
It is my conviction that any work of fiction contains, or should contain, a message, a moral if you like, implied or explicit, that makes the story relevant. Writing this account more than 50 years after the event, I would be hard put today to vehemently defend the story’s point of view. Unfortunately, the price of deforestation and the resulting ills to society and to the planet have proven to be much higher than at first conceived, yet sadly the process goes on as before.
Clearly, a lot of thought and time is required to turn a skeleton of a story into a detailed plan, a full screenplay with dialogue written out. Simultaneously a production crew had to be trained, the actors cast, scene locations determined, costumes and props chosen, a story board devised, and a shooting schedule worked out before shooting could actually begin.
The production crew, kept to a minimum, consisted of four young local men who, obviously, had no previous connection to film-making. Samson Orhokpocha, a natural organizer, became a sort of Production Manager. Michael Nwaitabo, whose job was to carry the camera and tripod, became Assistant Cameraman. Sound recordist was Sunday Obende. He recorded the dialogue scenes, albeit as cue tracks only, for later dubbing in the studio. He also recorded the felling of trees, which sounded like heavy cloth being torn slowly, followed after the fall by a symphony of terrified animals and birds. Although sound effects were later added in the studio, Sunday’s work was extraordinary in itself. The fourth member of the crew was Rufus Atangbayila, who carried lightweight tin-foil reflectors to lighten the shadows, particularly in close-up shots. The whole picture would be shot in daylight, so no electric lighting equipment was needed.
Casting was not always easy or smooth, at times illuminating the tribal atmosphere of life deep in the jungle. Early in the production, looking for a suitable Fincho, I found a healthy-looking young man on the concession, named Aladdi. We shot some tests with him, which were sent to a London film lab for development. It took weeks before a print came back, during which Aladdi fell mysteriously ill, and soon died. Rumor had it that someone had wished him dead, presumably over an issue with a woman, and that he had died of a juju. Having been a popular figure in the community, Aladdi’s death was much talked about. One fellow on a trip to Benin City said he had seen him there alive, and another had met and spoken with him in faraway Ibadan. Both reported that Aladdi looked healthy and was well dressed, and would soon come back to close the account with his murderer.
At the compound there stood a large board built of wooden planks painted white, which served as a movie screen, and some distance away was a hut with an old 16mm projector in it. From time to time rented feature films were shown to the workers as a bonus. When the test including Aladdi arrived, I decided to run it for the crew after dark. Word leaked fast, and quickly several hundred Africans assembled there. It was a still, moonless night, and when Aladdi’s image appeared on the board in full color, a terrified hush fell over the audience. Someone screamed, women hid their babies, others fled. “He finally came back,” my crew explained to me as we dismantled the test, “and tonight he will find the man who killed him.”
My remonstration that it was only his image we saw convinced no one. In truth, it was I who felt uncomfortable that evening.
When Aladdi had fallen ill, and I suggested that he see a doctor, he said only a black man could cure him. When his condition deteriorated, and I offered to take him to them mission hospital, half a day’s drive away, he said, “If I go to a white doctor, I shall die.” I persisted, perhaps too strongly, and when we arrived at the small hospital the only doctor there, a youngish German with a heavy accent, said I should leave Aladdi there for a few days.
After some 10 days without a sign of Aladdi, I drove to the hospital again. “Good zat you come,” the doctor welcomed me, “your man is just now dying.” Indeed, in the ward Aladdi lay dying. “What of?” I demanded. “We gave him every test,” the doctore explained “All negative. There is a lot we don’t know about African diseases and Juju. And we cannot perform autopsies because we have no refrigeration. Do you want to take the body back with you or should we bury him in the mission graveyard?” I stayed till after the burial, and when I got back to the outpost, there was no need to say anything. Mysteriously, everyone already knew the sad news.
Whether by power of the Juju or by plain coincidence, during the night of the screening a thunderstorm broke out over the outpost, and next morning half the compound’s thatched roofs were gone. The crew informed me that Aladdi had been there and had found his killer. After that, Aladdi no longer returned to the living.
The role of Fincho finally went to Patrick Akponu, a conductor on the Lagos-Owo bus line, which was actually an open truck. He was a proud young tribesman from Onitsha, on the Niger River. Would he like to work on a film? Yes, he would. Could he read English? Yes, he had gone to school until his father had died, though his education had never been completed. A week later he came to the concession. He wore no shoes and ate with his fingers and he was natural and friendly. While learning his lines, he suddenly exclaimed, “I did this before, in the village school.” “You did what?” I asked. “Shakespeare,” he said. And while I marveled at the sound of this word coming from his lips, he stood up, looked about as if confronting an audience, and said boldly, “Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears,” and broke into a hearty laugh. At that moment I knew I was lucky, and indeed it became a pleasure to work with him.
For the role of Fincho’s Girl I found a charming, expressive young girl named Amukpe. Only when I handed her the dialogue lines, it turned out she was illiterate. Her role went to a young vocalist from a band in Lagos, who could read English, memorize her lines, and act them out without effort. Her name was Comfort Ajilo.
Casting the White Man was a bit of a problem, the supply of candidates being so narrow. The only man who looked the part was the concession’s CEO, who, I feared, would decline considering his status and responsibilities. When in desperation I turned to Gordon Parry-Holroyd, he accepted with great pleasure, and filled his part conscientiously and convincingly.
To play the Jujuman I approached the real fellow, who spoke no English. His part, however, did not require it, Yoruba being sufficient, and it would add authenticity to his character. The problem arose when, after several rehearsals of a shot, as soon as the camera started rolling he would freeze completely and just stand still. One of the onlookers, a lean middle-aged man, jumped in to show him what to do. His name was Adebayo Fuwa, and in the end he got the part.
Two cast members actually played themselves - the schoolmaster, Bashiru Abibu, a bright and obliging fellow who invested in his part the same commitment he had for his profession; and Chief Adedigba, the village chief. There were also Mistah Finch’s driver, Gabriel Adebisi, forever busy polishing the boss’s LandRover, Fincho’s Father Pa, George Agho, the girl’s father, Augustine Ihonde, and a white woman on the compound who played Finch’s wife joining him in the jungle, a non-speaking and therefore a non-credited part.
Those were days before zoom lenses, and if one wanted a moving shot, one could only pan sideways or tilt up and down. To heighten intimacy by moving in slowly, imperceptibly, on a close-up or a two-shot, one needed a dolly. We built one, using two bicycles with a platform between them.
Shooting the felling of trees was particularly dramatic. The fellers always knew which way the giant trees would fall, and directed us where to place the camera for safety. Once, however, their calculation fell short. I was filming the beginning of a fall, concentrating on the trunk at the tree’s base and expecting it to fall away from us, when suddenly, amid frenzied shouting, camera and tripod were grabbed away from me as the huge mass above was crashing down toward me. There was barely time to escape when, like in a nightmare, I discovered my foot was stuck in the undergrowth. It was only a split second between the crew pulling me free from my shoe and the mammoth trunk hitting the ground. A Kingdom for a Horse? A Shoe for a Life.
All in all I spent six months in “the interior”. Except for the test with Aladdi, I saw no rushes in Africa, relying rather on the lab reports from London than having the material shipped out. I left many friends in the Kingdom of Owo, black and white. In particular Fincho remained dear to my heart. I sent him several packages and books, and hoped he would advance to a better life than he had had before. This did not come to pass. Within a month or two, one of my letters to him was returned with an official stamp “Deceased.”
The next stage was the editing and finishing of the film. This took place in Los Angeles, where I had an assistantship teaching film at UCLA, my Alma Mater. Editing was made easy as I had kept the entire film on story board, which I had updated daily during shooting. All I had to do now was to arrange the shots in sequence, and fine cut. I rounded up several Nigerian students at the university for the dubbing of voices, and was elated, amid raucous laughter, to practice Pidgin again. The dialogue and the narration of Fincho’s voice I dubbed myself. Even the short Fincho song, words written by well-known lyricist Sid Robin, I sang and recorded with a small Mexican band. As befits an almost budget-less home production, I cut the negative myself.
Film, I believe, can be made more suggestive by the use of images and sounds not necessarily connected to the scene at hand, much like metaphors in language.
When, for example, Fincho and his girl, alone in an empty riverbed, discuss their future, a close shot of a tropical bird overhearing their conversation appears momentarily.
This is not a planned shot in the screenplay, but an editing idea, and
the short clip of the bird is purchased from a ‘stock library’ in the film capital. When Fincho, riding with the timber down the river, reaches the ocean freighter, which he sees for the first time, we hear the big ship sounding its horn. This would not happen in reality, but the sound effect adds a dimension to the scene.
A kindly Hollywood composer, Alexander Laszlo, offered to compose and record an original score for the film. I was not convinced that a symphonic score was the most appropriate addition to the film, thinking a small combo or a single African instrument would be better. Eventually I was persuaded that a big orchestration would add stature to the film, an assumption I still question in my mind to this day. In any event, I had brought with me recordings of what was known as Lagos Highlife, and Laszlo adapted the syncopated rhythms with his own melody as the leitmotiv of the film, including that of the Fincho song. For the title background sheets, art student Shelley Schoenberg drew actual key scenes from the film in ink and color, to familiarize the viewer subliminally with coming events.
The final cut ran 75 minutes, a bit short perhaps for a feature, but better, I thought, than dragging it out another five or six minutes and slowing down the pace. My shooting ratio (the ratio between exposed stock to that actually used in the finished film) was 3:1, an efficient rate, made possible by the use of a detailed story board, and also by the necessity to be prudent. The net running time of finished film achieved during the shooting period was about one minute per shooting day, not a bad yield at all.
Deeply moved at the time by the enormously popular singer and black activist, Harry Belafonte, I boldly wrote him to ask if he would consider adding an introduction to the film. To my surprise he responded. He would gladly see the film, and suggested that I come to Las Vegas, where he was appearing nightly in one of the leading hotels, and show him the film. Packing a Movieola (a somewhat bulky editing machine with a small screen) and the “work-print” of the not quite finished film into my car, I drove to Nevada. Belafonte saw the film in his hotel room and agreed on the spot to cooperate. We made a date to meet at a small New York studio a few weeks later, and filmed Belafonte delivering a short address I had prepared. He did this entirely on a voluntary basis.
My Nigerian gamble thus worked out beyond my wildest dreams. After the film was completed, a most touching accolade came in the form of an unsolicited letter written by three leading Hollywood figures to the Production Head of 20th Century Fox, calling his attention to my work. The three renowned signatories were screenwriter, Norman Corwin, director Fred Zinnemann and composer Bernard Herrmann. I shall forever remain grateful for their munificence. Lastly, I also deepened a lifelong friendship with the Behrmans, who made it all possible.
Fincho: The Making of the First Nigerian Film in Colour By Sam Zebba
Sam Zebba directing "Fincho" in Nigeria.
Many people have read about Sam Zebba's "Fincho", the first film shot in colour in Nigeria in 1955 and post production was done in the United States of America and it was released in 1957. But majority of Nigerians and others have little or no knowledge about the great filmmaker, Sam Zebba who passed away in Israel on February 27, 2016.
I have decided to publish this comprehensive documentary report on him, comprising his own memoir on how he made "Fincho"; an article on him before he passed on and a memorial tribute written by David (Dudi) Sebba published by www.esra-magazine.com.
What Sam Zebba documented on the circumstances of the events that occurred during the making of "Fincho" can be a fanstatic movie. And publishing it on a Nigerian website is important in recognition of the Nigerian cast and crew. They have made history and we must remember them in the history of Nigerian cinema.
Fincho- Adventure in Nigeria 1955: Adventure in the interior of Nigeria
One night in 1954, at the home of my London relatives, Boria and Rena Behrman, Boria showed some 8mm color footage he had taken at their timber concession in Nigeria. The Behrman family had been in the timber business for several generations, still in the ‘old country’ (Latvia), and the Nigeria concession was a new extension of their UK firm, Finch & Company. What I saw there was formidable. Giant trees were being felled in the jungle and hundreds of bare-handed African workers were pulling the heavy trunks through the mud.
I realized that this could be a starting point for an extraordinary documentary and perhaps even more than that. For some time I had felt a strong desire to move from the short film, my medium hitherto, to full-length form. If I could find a human story to fit into the tree felling process, perhaps the chance of realizing this was here.
Boria generously said I could stay in one of the bungalows built for the white staff at the concession, and film whatever I wanted. Admittedly, it would be foolhardy to go script-less into the unknown, but therein lay the challenge. And so, toward the end of the Central African rainy season in 1955, equipped with a 16mm Arriflex camera, a portable sound recording device, and a reasonable amount of Kodachrome color film, I set out on a flight to Lagos, the capital of Nigeria at the time, and from there, mostly over unpaved and ill-maintained dirt roads, passing through two enormous clusters of mud huts, Ibadan and Benin City, to the Finch timber concession in the faraway Kingdom of the Olowo (Ruler) of Owo.
The dramatic - and largely unknown - rise of China's economic empire into Africa and how it will change the 21st century and impact America's role in Africa. This is the dramatic - and largely unknown - story of the rise of China's economic empire in Africa, and how it will transform geopolitics.
China has now taken Britain's place as Africa's third largest business partner. Where others only see chaos, the Chinese see opportunities. With no colonial past and no political preconditions, China is bringing investment and needed infrastructure to a continent that has been largely ignored by Western companies or nations. Travelling from Beijing to Khartoum, Algiers to Brazzaville, the authors tell the story of China's economic ventures in Africa. What they find is tantamount to a geopolitical earthquake: The possibility that China will help Africa direct its own fate and finally bring light to the so-called 'dark continent', making it a force to be reckoned with internationally.
Ghanaian boy reunites with his parents in America 13 after they won Visa Lottery
It was an emotional day and perhaps would be cherished as one of the happiest days in the life of Kofi the 16 year old Ghanaian boy who reunited with his beloved parents Salomey Sarbeng and Daniel Oduro at the Des Moines Int'l Airport Monday February 7, 2011 after 13 years of separation.
Kofi Oduro Nsenkyire’s parents immigrated to the U.S. in 1998 after winning a visa lottery, but Kofi had to stay behind with his grandparents, because the sponsors of his parents were not ready to accommodate children.
"I am very happy," Kofi enthused as he arrived the U.S. after 13 years and 6,100 miles of the Atlantic Ocean to embrace his parents and siblings he was seeing for the first time, brother Desire, 12; sister Yaa, 11; and sister Ama, 5 months who were born in America.
Groundbreaking Exhibition Explores Shared History Between African and Native Americans
Red/Black: Related Through History tells stories of the allied and adversarial relationships of African Americans and American Indians
PR Newswire
INDIANAPOLIS, Jan. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A groundbreaking exhibition exploring the shared history between African and Native Americans will open at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art on Feb. 12, 2011. Red/Black: Related Through History includes an object-based exhibition on the subject, created by the Eiteljorg Museum, and the Smithsonian's traveling panel show, Indivisible: African-Native American Lives in the Americas .
To view the multimedia assets associated with this release, please click: http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/eiteljorg/47873/
Since the first arrival of African slaves in North America, the interactions between people of African and Native American heritage has been a combined story of conflict, cooperation, cultural growth, destruction and survival. Since 2001, the Eiteljorg Museum has pioneered research on this subject and has drawn together important art and artifacts that demonstrate shared traditions found in history, genealogy, food, dress, music and occupation. Some American Indians held black slaves and others helped them escape. Sometimes there was intermarriage and a blending of traditions.
The exhibition will explore the stories of individuals and groups that highlight the allied and adversarial relationship between blacks and American Indians. One such story talks about the life of Lucinda Davis. She was interviewed by historians in the 1930s. Davis had been born a slave around 1848 and was owned by a Creek Indian family. She spent her life in what is now Oklahoma. She spoke the Creek language, and after gaining her emancipation following the Civil War, had difficulty adapting to freedom. There were many who, like Davis, were owned by Native Americans and who struggled with emancipation.
Also found in the exhibit is the story of Charlie Grant. In 1901, Baltimore Orioles manager John J. McGraw tested the color line in professional baseball by trying to pass off Grant, a Negro League second baseman, who had high cheekbones and straight hair, as Charlie Tokohama, a Native American, which was more palatable to baseball fans.
Red/Black also explores issues of race and personal identity and the question: "Who am I and who gets to say so?" The exhibit will illustrate the complexity of racial identity and why judgments about race can so easily be misguided.
Red/Black: Related Through History includes dynamic programming and runs through Aug. 9.
SOURCE Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art
CONTACT: Anthony Scott, +1-317-275-1352, ascott@eiteljorg.com, www.twitter.com/Eiteljorg_PR
