Nollywood Missing When Hollywood and Bollywood Dazzled At the Cannes

Photo Credit: Celeb Buzz

Nollywood Missing When Hollywood and Bollywood Dazzled At the Cannes



The highlights of the closing ceremony of the last Cannes Film Festival were colourful. Hollywood and Bollywood stars had a lot to show at the 63rd Cannes Film Festival, but no single Nollywood star was on the red carpet. Aishwarya Rai was turning heads at the publicity for Raavan and at the screening of Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and another Bollywood sex symbol Mallika Sherawat was in the news for Love, Barack. Nollywood was missing in action, except for Stephanie Okereke whose romantic comedy Through the Glass was promoted by her Canadian distributor at the Cannes Film Market.



Indian actress Aishwarya Rai arrives for the screening of the movie 'Wall Street - Money Never Sleeps' during the 63rd Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, 14 May 2010. The movie by US director Oliver Stone is presented out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival 2010, running from 12 to 23 May. EPA/CHRISTOPHE KARABA


There were few Nigerians at the festival and they came from the new Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF), Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC), Lagos State government, The Guardian, The Nation and Supple magazine.


"Most of the Nollywood stars shy away from the Cannes, because they are not recognized as stars there. In fact, even if Genevieve Nnaji came, the paparazzi will not notice her," said Hope Obioma Opara, the Publisher of Supple magazine and President/Co-founder of Eko International Film Festival who was at Cannes for the second time.


Hope is the co-producer of Letter to the Professor, a new Nigerian big budget film featuring the first African Nobel laureate in Literature, Prof. Wole Soyinka.


Nollywood stars can only shine at local awards events and some events in Africa, but they are not recognized at the major film festivals in the world.
The fact that the richest Black woman on earth Oprah Winfrey mentioned Genevieve Nnaji as one of the most popular people in the world only made Nigerians to go gaga and Genevieve Nnaji was over the moon, but not in Hollywood or Bollywood. Nollywood videos are the laughing stock of world class filmmakers.


The fact is most of the Nollywood stars will fail auditions and cannot face the tough challenges in Hollywood or Bollywood where you cannot use tribalism to gatecrash into acting like Igbo and Yoruba actors do in Nollywood.



~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima


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When There Are Six Women Chasing One Man

When There Are Six Women Chasing One Man


Read the following extract from a recent report from the U.S.

Real life is more complicated, of course, but this simple model illustrates an important truth. In the marriage market, numbers matter. And among African-Americans, the disparity is much worse than in Mr. Harford’s imaginary example. Between the ages of 20 and 29, one black man in nine is behind bars. For black women of the same age, the figure is about one in 150. For obvious reasons, convicts are excluded from the dating pool. And many women also steer clear of ex-cons, which makes a big difference when one young black man in three can expect to be locked up at some point.

Removing so many men from the marriage market has profound consequences. As incarceration rates exploded between 1970 and 2007, the proportion of US-born black women aged 30-44 who were married plunged from 62% to 33%. Why this happened is complex and furiously debated. The era of mass imprisonment began as traditional mores were already crumbling, following the sexual revolution of the 1960s and the invention of the contraceptive pill. It also coincided with greater opportunities for women in the workplace. These factors must surely have had something to do with the decline of marriage.

But jail is a big part of the problem; argue Kerwin Kofi Charles, now at the University of Chicago, and Ming Ching Luoh of National Taiwan University. They divided America up into geographical and racial “marriage markets”, to take account of the fact that most people marry someone of the same race who lives relatively close to them. Then, after crunching the census numbers, they found that a one percentage point increase in the male incarceration rate was associated with a 2.4-point reduction in the proportion of women who ever marry. Could it be, however, that mass incarceration is a symptom of increasing social dysfunction, and that it was this social dysfunction that caused marriage to wither? Probably not. For similar crimes, America imposes much harsher penalties than other rich countries. Mr. Charles and Mr. Luoh controlled for crime rates, as a proxy for social dysfunction, and found that it made no difference to their results. They concluded that “higher male imprisonment has lowered the likelihood that women marry…and caused a shift in the gains from marriage away from women and towards men.”

http://www.economist.com/world/united-states/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15867956

In Nigeria, there over 50,000 men in prison and these men left behind girlfriends and wives who are now desperately seeking companionship from other men. So they join the pool of hundreds of thousands of other single women who are searching for men to date and marry.

Let us add the girlfriends and widows of the thousands of Nigerian Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) soldiers killed during the civil wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone. Then include the thousands languishing in hellish police cells all over Nigeria. All these unfortunate victims of foreseen and unforeseen circumstances had sweethearts who must continue with their lives.

Then finally, how can millions of jobless single women date and marry millions of equally jobless single men in Nigeria?
Therefore, the millions of jobless single women are desperately chasing the gainfully employed single or married men to make ends meet.
So a gainfully employed single man is now facing 6 to 10 single women who have no other man available to date or marry.

There is scarcity of eligible bachelors and the cause has nothing to do with the SPIRIT OF LATE MARRIAGE or whatever many opportunistic pastors have been using to lure desperate single women to their churches and milk them dry of their hard earned money in the guise of sowing for the miracle of getting married.
Tell the pastors to go and set the bond men in jail free and then give jobs to the millions of jobless single men first and stop preaching lies to single women in Nigeria.

For every single woman who gets married, there is another woman with a broken heart caused by the same man you are calling husband.

There are more single women than single men in these interesting times of economic, social and political vicissitudes.
We cannot escape from the present realities in Nigeria and the U.S.

We do not have enough eligible single men for our single women.

Six single women may have to share one man or languish in loneliness.

SHARING IS CARING.


~ By Ekeneyerengozi Michael Chima

Curtain Comes Down on the 63rd Annual Cannes Film Festival

The highlights of the closing ceremony were colourful. Hollywood and Bollywood stars had a lot to show at the 63rd Cannes Film Festival, but no single Nollywood star was on the red carpet. Nollywood was missing in action.



Apichatpong WEERASETHAKUL with the Palme d’Or

The 63rd Cannes Film Festival ended with the thai filmmaker, Apichatpong WEERASETHAKUL winning the Palme d’Or, the highest prize for his film “LUNG BOONMEE RALUEK CHAT (Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives)”.

If Thailand can go as high as winning the most coveted prize at the Cannes, then Nigeria can produce the films that can qualify for competition and win top prizes.

What is the benefit of producing thousands of movies since 1992 to date and not a single Nollywood movie has even qualified for the Official Selection of the Cannes Film Festival?

Nigerian filmmakers must step up to compete with the best in the world or go and dump their mediocre movies in the Atlantic Ocean before coming to the Côte d’Azur and get dazed and fazed by the outstanding filmmakers from all over the world.

Congratulations to all the worthy winners.

Complete List of the Winners at the 63rd Cannes Film Festival

Feature films
Palme d’Or
LUNG BOONMEE RALUEK CHAT (Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives) directed by Apichatpong WEERASETHAKUL



Grand Prix
DES HOMMES ET DES DIEUX (OF GODS AND MEN) directed by Xavier BEAUVOIS


Award for Best Director
Mathieu AMALRIC for TOURNÉE (ON TOUR)


Award for Best Screenplay
LEE Chang-dong for POETRY



Award for Best Actress
Juliette BINOCHE in COPIE CONFORME (CERTIFIED COPY) directed by Abbas KIAROSTAMI



Award for Best Actor Ex-aequo
Javier BARDEM in BIUTIFUL directed by Alejandro GONZÁLEZ IÑÁRRITU
Elio GERMANO in LA NOSTRA VITA (OUR LIFE) directed by Daniele LUCHETTI



Jury Prize
UN HOMME QUI CRIE (A screaming man) directed by Mahamat-Saleh HAROUN



Short Films
Palme d’Or – Short Film
CHIENNE D’HISTOIRE (BARKING ISLAND) directed by Serge AVÉDIKIAN



Jury Prize – Short Film
MICKY BADER (BATHING MICKY) directed by Frida KEMPFF


Un Certain Regard :
Un Certain Regard Prize – Groupama Gan Foundation for Cinema
HAHAHA directed by HONG Sangsoo


Jury Prize – Un Certain Regard
OCTUBRE (OCTOBER) directed by Daniel VEGA, Diego VEGA



Un Certain Regard Award for Best Actress
LOS LABIOS (THE LIPS) played by Victoria RAPOSO, Eva BIANCO, Adela SANCHEZ



Cinefondation :
1st Prize Cinéfondation
TAULUKAUPPIAAT (THE PAINTING SELLERS) directed by Juho KUOSMANEN


2nd Prize – Cinéfondation
COUCOU-LES-NUAGES (Anywhere out of the world) directed by Vincent CARDONA


3rd Prize Cinéfondation Ex-aequo
HINKERORT ZORASUNE (THE FIFTH COLUMN) directed by Vatche BOULGHOURJIAN
JA VEC JESAM SVE ONO ŠTO ŽELIM DA IMAM (I ALREADY AM EVERYTHING I WANT TO HAVE) directed by Dane KOMLJEN

Golden Camera :
Caméra d’or
AÑO BISIESTO directed by Michael ROWE

~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima

Helon Habila Leads Fidelity Bank International Creative Writing Workshop

Helon Habila


One of Nigeria's most illustrious young writers Helon Habila, the first Nigerian winner of the highly coveted Caine Prize, and the Commonwealth Writers Prize will lead the award winning Canadian novelist Madeleine Thien and the popular Jamaican writer Colin Channer to the next Fidelity Bank International Creative Writing Workshop coming up in Abuja this July.

Fidelity Bank Plc gave the following detailed information on the international creative writing workshop.

This year’s edition of our International Creative Writing Workshop is the 3rd in
a series of efforts to redirect the energy of Nigerian youths to those values
that once made Nigeria great. The workshop is also an important component of
Fidelity’s Corporate Social Responsibility CSR through which the bank continues
to push for a better society.

Participants will be expected to read and
discuss a wide range of fiction and non-fiction, as well as complete short
writing exercises.

Participation in the forthcoming workshop is limited
to those who apply and are accepted. A public symposium featuring readings and
panel discussions will be held on the last day of the workshop.

To
apply, send an e-mail to - creative.writing@fidelitybankplc.com



Your e-mail subject should bear the title – Workshop
Application.

The body of the e-mail should contain the following –
1. Your name.
2. Your address.
3. A few sentences about yourself.
4. A writing sample of between 200 and 800 words.

Please indicate
whether your sample is fiction or non-fiction. Acceptance will be based on the
quality of the writing sample.

All writing material must be pasted or
written in the body of the e-mail.
Do NOT send any attachments.
Applications with attachments will be automatically disqualified.

Deadline for submission is June 20, 2010. If accepted, you will be
notified by July 4, 2010

Femi Odugbemi’s Bariga Boy Wins AfroPop Prize for Best film

Femi Odugbemi

Femi Odugbemi’s Bariga Boy Wins AfroPop Prize for Best film


Femi Odugbemi’s short documentary Bariga Boy has won another international award at the 5th Real-Life Documentary Film Festival (May 18th to 25th /Screening May 21st to 25th) in Accra, Ghana. Last Wednesday, it was awarded the AfroPop Prize for Best film. In April, Bariga Boy was given the award for the Best Documentary at the AMAA 2010 in Bayelsa state, Nigeria.


The AfroPop Prize of the Real Life Documentary Festival is sponsored by the National Black Programming Consortium, in the United States. The prize is connected to the US-based public television show featuring independent documentaries and short films about life art and culture from the contemporary African Diaspora.


“For Africa to catch up with the world infrastructurally, politically and economically, artistes of all shades must stand up to be counted. Our talent must speak out to challenge power and inspire change,” Odugbemi said while receiving the prize.


“I am very happy that Femi Odugbemi got the AfroPop Prize. He did a beautiful work and I really enjoyed the way he portrayed a young gifted Nigerian artiste and its neighborhood. The awards are for me very important because it is a great opportunity for the festival to give recognition to contemporary African visual productions,” said Lydie Diakhate, Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Real Life Festival.

Fashola’s Parents Accompany Lagos State Delegation to 63rd Cannes Film Festival

Fashola’s Parents Accompany Lagos State Delegation to 63rd Cannes Film Festival

The parents of Babatunde Raji Fashola,SAN, the governor of Lagos state accompanied a delegation of top officials of the state government to the 63rd Cannes Film Festival from May 12-23, 2010. The Cannes Film Festival holds annually (usually in May) at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, in the resort town of Cannes, in the south of France.

The mission of the delegation is to meet with experts on the development of the proposed Lagos Film City in Bagagry. They met with top executives of KODAK at an exclusive dinner on a luxury yacht last Wednesday. The successful hosting of the 6th ION Film Festival in Port Harcourt by the Rivers state government last September, and to use the global popularity of Nollywood to boost tourism in Lagos motivated the state government to include a Hollywood style film city in the Eko Mega City Project.

There is already an active Lagos International Film Festival founded and organized by Nollywood top player Mr. Madu Chikwendu, Regional Secretary of the Pan-African Federation of Filmmakers (FEPACI), but poor funding and lack of government support have made it unattractive to most people in Nigeria and abroad. The poor management, poor mileage and patronage challenged Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima, a Lagos based publisher and producer to create the new Eko International Film Festival (EKOIFF) last August and he got the support of M21 Entertainment of Italy as the media partner. M21 Entertainment publishes the leading Pro film and festival sites Fest21.com, Filmfestivals.com and the French online community cluster21.com. And Eko International Film Festival has been duly registered by Supple Communications Limited, a Lagos based media company owned by Mr. Hope Obioma Opara, the President/Co-founder of the film festival and Publisher of Supple mamgazine, the first African magazine covering film festivals since 2008 to date.

The Lagos state government can use any of the two film festivals in Lagos for the promotion of tourism and making Lagos the haven of filmmakers and lovers of movies in Africa and the rest of the world.

Are Igbo girls the most beautiful girls in Nigeria?

Three MBGN Contestants.

Are Igbo girls the most beautiful girls in Nigeria?


Most of the contestants in the 2010 Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria (MBGN) beauty pageant are Igbo girls.

Igbo girls are even representing Kwara and other states in the Northern region of Nigeria.

Guinness World Records® Discovers New Tallest Man in America

(L-R) Guinness World Records adjudicator Danny Girton Jr. and Dr. Oz measure Igor Vovkovinskiy, the new Tallest Living Man in America at 7 feet, 8.33 inches on the set of The Dr. Oz Show. Credit: ZoCo Productions, LLC/ Jeffrey Niera/. (PRNewsFoto/Guinness World Records) NEW YORK, NY UNITED STATES


21 May 2010 14:00 Africa/Lagos


Guinness World Records® Discovers New Tallest Man in America

27-Year-Old Igor Vovkovinskiy Claims Coveted Title at 7 feet 8.33 inches



NEW YORK, May 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Guinness World Records announced today that Igor Vovkovinskiy has been crowned the new Tallest Living Man in America. Measuring a staggering 7 feet 8.33 inches, the towering 27-year old traveled from Minnesota to New York City where Guinness World Record officials certified his claim on the set of The Dr. Oz Show. Igor beat out the previous record-holder, Virginia deputy sheriff George Bell, by a third of an inch. His record-setting moment will premiere on the Daytime Emmy nominated nationally syndicated talk show The Dr. Oz Show on Monday, May 24th (go to www.doctoroz.com/find-station or check local listings for time and channel).


(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100521/NY08723 )



"Igor had been on our radar for a while, so we were eager to measure him and see if he was, in fact, the Tallest Living Man in America," said Guinness World Records adjudicator Danny Girton Jr. "Following stringent Guinness World Record guidelines on measurement, we're pleased to confirm that Igor is now a part of record-breaking history."


Upon accepting the Guinness World Record, Igor said, "It feels good to finally have proof that I am the Tallest Man in America. Everyone is always asking me if I'm certain that I'm the tallest and I was never able to prove it. Now that I have this certificate to hang on my wall, I could finally show it!"


Originally from the Ukraine, Igor moved to Minnesota with his mother Svetlana when he was 7-years old. With a size 24 10-E shoe, Igor faces challenges daily including fitting into cars, finding comfortable shoes and squeezing into desks at the Minnesota School of Business where he is pursuing a degree in paralegal studies. He's found solace in organizations like the Tall Club International where he's made lasting friendships with other tall people like himself.


Igor now joins the Tallest Living Man, Sultan Kosen (Turkey), who measures in at 8 feet 1 inch and the Tallest Man Ever, Robert Wadlow (US) who stood an amazing 8 feet 11.1 inches tall in the Guinness World Records pantheon.


Guinness World Records is also looking high and low in every corner of the globe to fill the coveted title of Tallest Living Woman. All legitimate contenders should register a proposal on www.guinnessworldrecords.com and follow the mandated instructions.



About Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records is the universally recognized authority on record-breaking achievement. First published in 1955, the annual Guinness World Records book is published in more than 100 countries and 25 languages and is the highest-selling books under copyright of all time with more than 3 million copies sold annually across the globe. Guinness World Records celebrated its 50th anniversary edition in 2004, a year after the sale of its 100 millionth copy. Guinness World Records also annually publishes the Gamer's Edition; a records book devoted solely to the world of computer gaming and high score record achievements. The Guinness World Records website (www.guinnessworldrecords.com) receives more than 11 million visitors a year. Guinness World Records is part of the Jim Pattison Group, one of Canada's largest privately owned companies which is a conglomerate of interests, including advertising, broadcasting, grocery stores and automotive retailing.


Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100521/NY08723
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN1
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com

Source: Guinness World Records

CONTACT: For more information and/or artwork please contact:

BENDER/HELPER IMPACT: Brian Reinert, Brian_Reinert@bhimpact.com, or Shannon
Swaggerty, Shannon_Swaggerty@bhimpact.com, both at +1-212-689-6360, or
GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS: US: Jamie Panas or Sara Wilcox, both at
+1-718-513-7263, press@guinnessworldrecords.com, or UK: Amarilis Espinoza,
+44-(0)-207-891-4516, press@guinnessworldrecords.com
Web Site: http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/

Sony and Google Launch First Internet TV

20 May 2010 19:05 Africa/Lagos

Sony to Introduce 'Sony Internet TV'

World's First TV Incorporating 'Google TV' Platform, Delivering Unprecedented TV-Internet Integration

TOKYO, May 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Corporation (hereafter "Sony") today announced the launch of "Sony Internet TV," the world's first TV to be based on the "Google TV" platform announced by Google Inc. (hereafter "Google"), Sony, Intel Corporation and Logitech today at Google I/O in San Francisco. "Sony Internet TV " combines the future growth potential and accessibility of the Android-based open Google TV platform with Sony's industry-leading expertise from product development to marketing. "Sony Internet TV" is scheduled to first launch in the U.S. in the Fall of 2010, with the lineup featuring both a standalone TV model and set top box-type unit incorporating a Blu-ray Disc drive.


As part of its ongoing efforts to introduce new business categories, Sony has proceeded to develop an "Evolving" TV that delivers new viewing styles exceeding conventional preconceptions, expandability through application downloads and other compelling features such as seamless operability and multitasking. "Sony Internet TV" realizes this vision, and is a new generation of TV that not only offers new forms of TV enjoyment through unprecedented Internet integration, but is also able to "evolve" through the download of applications. By leveraging the flexibility and growth potential of Google TV platform, Sony will be able to provide consumers with easy access to a range of rich and attractive content.


As the range of new internet content and services continues to grow and diversify, Sony's development of an "Evolving" TV will enable it to deliver this world of internet-based entertainment directly into consumers' living rooms. Furthermore, Sony will continue to apply its wealth of display technology expertise to create ever more compelling and attractive TV products.


Inquiries


Corporate Communications, Sony Corporation Tel: +81-3-6748-2200


Source: Sony Corporation

CONTACT: Corporate Communications of Sony Corporation, +81-3-6748-2200





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South African AIDS Film Draws Tears at Cannes World Premiere

Tears of empathy flowed copiously for heart broken Chanda, the 12 year old heroine of the South African AIDS film Life, Above All as viewers were gripped by the heartrending film Tuesday morning in the Salle Debussy at the world premiere as an official selection of the 63rd Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard category.




Allan Stratton, 59, the author of Chanda’s Secrets the young adult novel that was adapted for the film Life, Above All said he was already in tears when he saw only the rushes during the filming in South Africa.



Allan Stratton (centre) Thato Kgaladi (Soly, the boy) and Mapaseka Matheba (Iris, the girl) on the set of film Life, Above All in South Africa.


“I wrote Chanda’s Secrets to put a human face to the Sub-Saharan AIDS pandemic. It’s a visually charged story that reaches audiences of all ages. A film version, created on location by South African director Oliver Schmitz, is a dream come true,” Allan Stratton said.




Chanda’s Secrets has won many prizes since 2005, including the Africana Book Award, Michael L. Printz Honor Book award and a finalist for the Prix Sorciere of France and it has been translated into over ten languages.


Life, Above All was directed by Oliver Schmitz, the South African director whose apartheid films Mapantsula and Hijack Stories have also been screened at the Cannes in 1988 and 2001.


“I think Allan Stratton found a very good way of showing the impact of AIDS in South Africa,” said Schmitz.

“Although the main story remains the same, many little changes were made. Allan Stratton’s novel is located in Africa, but we have tried to remain very specific in terms of language and culture. For me, this sort of detail is crucial because I want to be sure that I’m faithfully representing our universal history.”




The author said he spent a month in Botswana to research for the facts.
“I knew what it felt like to lose a loved one and what AIDS panic looked like, but I did want to see what was different. In Africa, instead of attacking a subset of society, it’s attacked entire societies. Two things I didn’t expect: Internet cafés everywhere, and the joy in people. When you watch the news, you see people in postures of despair and flies buzzing around babies and glassy expressions. But the truth is that there is so much fire and laughter and joy. It made me think of how resilient people are and how, against probability, there are people who are able to grow and thrive — and that’s the story of Chanda, ”


Life, Above All was produced by German filmmaker Oliver Stoltz whose chance meeting with Allan Stratton during a reading tour in Germany in 2005 led to the film adaptation of the novel.




SYNOPSIS:
Nothing is more contagious than lies

Just after the death of her newly-born baby sister, Chanda, 12 years old, learns of a rumor that spreads like wildfire through her small, dust-ridden village near Johannesburg. It destroys her family and forces her mother to flee. Sensing that the gossip stems from prejudice and superstition, Chanda leaves home and school in search of her mother and the truth.

CREDITS

• Oliver SCHMITZ – Director
• Dennis FOON – Screenplay
• Bernhard JASPER – Cinematography
• Christiane ROTH – Set Designer
• Ali N. ASKIN – Music
• Dirk GRAU – Film Editor

ACTORS

• Thato KGALADI – Soly
• Keaobaka MAKANYANE – Esther
• Harriet MANAMELA – Mrs Tafa
• Khomotso MANYAKA – Chanda
• Mapaseka MATHEBE – Iris
• Tinah MNUMZANA – Aunt Lizbet
• Lerato MVELASE – Lillian
• Aubrey POOLO – Jonah

THE STORY:

Chanda, 16, is a smart and determined South African girl on track to win a scholarship – but she’s suddenly thrust into an impossible situation, forcing her to adopt maturity beyond her years. When we first meet her, she’s making funeral arrangements for her year-old sister, Sara. If people begin to suspect Sara’s death was due to more than a passing flu, Chanda will be faced with shame and stigma, not only for the victim, but also for their entire family.

When Lilian’s (Chanda’s mother) illness becomes impossible to hide, their nosy, eccentric next-door neighbor, Mrs. Tafa, engages a spirit doctor to perform a startling ritual. The spirit doctor determines that a curse is hanging over her and her children. In order to lift it,

Lilian must return to the village from where she was banished decades before, leaving Chanda alone to care for her siblings.

Meanwhile, Chanda’s best friend, Esther, has turned to prostitution in a desperate attempt to survive and reunite her own family. Though the community shuns Esther, Chanda refuses to reject her friend. To the horror of those around her, Chanda opens her house to Esther at her friend’s moment of greatest need. That’s just the beginning of Chanda’s fight against convention.

When Chanda discovers that her mother may have gone away to die in order to spare her children shame, she ignores the cautions of the meddling Mrs. Tafa, and embarks on a fateful journey to bring her mother home. And in doing so, challenges the people around her to reject their prejudices and embrace the truth.






~ By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima