Wilfred Okiche

Secrets. Every family has them. For filmmaker Jide Tom Akinleminu, it would seem that his not-quite-blended family is nursing more than their fair share.  As the mixed-race son of a Nigerian father and a Danish mother, Jide Tom Akinleminu spent his life straddling both often extreme worlds. His parents met and fell in love while […]

Kunle Afolayan’s latest Netflix original property, Swallow is an adaptation of the novel of the same title by Sefi Atta, one of the most influential contemporary Nigerian writers.  Released on the global platform as the big Independence Day release, Afolayan’s visual interpretation futilely gropes for ideas about national identity, economic inequality and the ways that […]

In one of the earliest scenes of Elder’s Corner, the culturally significant, long in the works documentary about Nigeria’s forgotten musical heroes, highlife maestro Sir Victor Uwaifo summarizes the film’s central thesis with the following words.  “It must be the devil’s trick to be born in a country where neither soul nor talent is appreciated,” […]

Everyone likes the idea of home as a safe place, a comforting, anchoring soundness. But sometimes this safety lies not in the familiar but in the complex challenge of exploring new vistas, away from all that was previously held dear. Especially when home is that place that takes instead of gives. The upbeat documentary, Blind […]

One of the most gripping moments at this year’s Sundance film festival was the screening of the jury prize winning short, Lizard. A naughty kid is kicked out of her Sunday school class embedded in one of the popular Pentecostal churches in Lagos. She spends the free time wandering around the expansive compound, stopping short […]

The compelling  opening scene of Farewell Amor is set in one of the arrival gates of the John F. Kennedy international airport in New York. A Brooklyn taxi driver (Walter), played by Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, is clutching a bunch of flowers and a gift bag while pacing the floors nervously. He is soon joined […]

With his debut feature length, Confusion Na Wa, Kenneth Gyang made an entry into the Nollywood’s limelight and went ahead to win Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Film category in 2013. He has become one of the most prolific figures in Africa’s bustling film powerhouse. He now boasts of a directory of films which […]