Filming commences on Shijuwomi

Niji Akanni directs Judith Audu and Ayo  Lijadu

BY ADA DIKE

Production of a film on Shijuwomi, a post colonial cinematic adaptation of Rasheed Gbadamosi’s book, Behold My Redeemer, has begun on Sunday, April 5, 2015.

Directed by an award winning theatre/TV/film director and screenwriter, Niji Akanni (Aramotu, Heroes and Zeroes), the film explores a story of a pampered girl, Shijuwomi, who has travelled to England to study.

She attempts suicide, prompting the decision to repatriate her home. At home, she is moved to an institution where she meets Dr. Ilori, a lecturer in Anthropology who eventually marries her.

 The marriage does not however provide the desired harmony and succour as Shijuwomi and Ilori are on a parallel scale in terms of pursuing their interests, forcing her to make another suicidal attempt.

Emotive, intriguing and thrilling, Shijuwomi is riddled with love and conflict from start to finish. It is a cerebral metaphor for Nigeria as a nation state and many African countries whose dreams of Utopia after freedom from colonial powers have all but evaporated, leaving behind hopelessness and frustration.

Rounding out the cast are rising female actress, Judith Audu as the titular Shijuwomi, veteran actors, Ayo Lijadu and Bimbo Manuel, and a host of other acting talent, including Femi Adebayo, Olu Okekanye,  Tina Mba, Jude Chukwuka.

Niji Akanni, who has been described by commentators as Nigeria’s own Akira Kurosawa is the director.

Akanni has written many award-winning films including Dangerous Twins and Playing Games, Saving Alero and Narrow Path. He has also featured as Director in many Reality TV shows in Nigeria - Amstel Malta Box Office (Season One, 2005), Big Brother Nigeria (2006) and The Apprentice Africa (2008).

With films like Abobaku, Aramotu, which won Best Feature Film at the Africa International Film Festival (AIFF) in 2011, Heroes and Zeroes, a 2012 flick starring Nadia Buari, Bimbo Manuel and Olu Jacobs, which was nominated in six categories at the ninth Africa Movie Academy Awards, winning awards for Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Editing and earning him an Official Selection in the video category at FESPACO 2013, Niji Akanni looks set to deliver another cinematic masterpiece.

Adapted for the screen by the trio of Prof. Ola Rotimi, Dr. Femi Olugbile and Bayo Awala, the man behind the project, Awala is neither new to adaptations nor directing. As a filmmaker, he acquired a lot of experience at the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), where he directed such successful drama series as Village Headmaster, as well as independently produced series such as Winds Against My Soul, Adio Family, By the Road Side, The Turning Wheel, The Young Ones, Jagua Nana’s Daughter, Tight Rope, Trauma and Doctors Quarters.

Veteran actor , Ayo Lijadu on set

In 2005, Awala directed the award winning political thriller, Prince of the Savannah, written by Yinka Ogun and starred Tunde Laniyan, Sam Loco Efe, Teni Aofiyebi, and Chidi Ukwu, who won the Best Actor Award at the ZUMA Film Festival 2011 for his role in the movie.

ShijuwomI has received support from the Nigerian government’s Nollywood interventionist project; ProjectActNollywood’s Film Production Fund (FPF) and is being produced with the active collaboration of Ogun State Government. 

 “This project has been in the works for over two decades. I have always been fascinated with this story since I first directed it on stage in 1969. Its thematic relevance, the tempo-spatial canvass against which the narrative plays out and an opportunity to increase the volume of works adapted from our rich literary traditions are some of the reasons why we have decided to showcase this piece,” Awala said.

Renowned economist and accomplished art collector, Chief Rasheed Abiodun Gbadamosi serves as Executive Producer for this project. He is the author of many short stories and plays for radio, television and the theatre, including Tree Grows in the Desert, Behold my Redeemer, Echoes from the Lagoon, and Sunset over Nairobi, which won first prize in Radio Netherlands Golden Windmill short story competition.

Ayo Lijadu and Judith Audu on set