Category: Movies

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Nollywood Has Gone Global

The Western movie streaming companies have awakened to the wonderful world of African cinema. NetFlix and Amazon Video have been investing in African film companies and have been promoting a lot of African movies lately.

I am very happy for this as I am not one to obtain movies via illegitimate sites. For me to download a movie from some random site, I would be robbing the producers, actors, writers, and others who worked so hard to create these works of art. As I live in the West, I am pleased to be able to consume African movies via NetFlix and Amazon Video.

African stories are finally being told to a global audience. Nollywood films are now trending in Canada. Africans can now tell our stories to the world. As a descendant of the victims or shall I say survivors of the Atlantic slave trade a.k.a. Maafa, I can learn a lot about my Yoruba heritage through some of the recent movies that have been released.

Elesin Oba: The King’s Horseman via Netflix

King of Thieves via Amazon Prime Video

I am looking forward to movies regarding my other ethnic roots such as Ashanti and Igbo. The African movie industry is now going global and big things are in store. Africa has over 1.4-billion people and a very rich history which is unknown to most of the world. This is the era of African cinema… and era where our stories are being told by us, not by outsiders.

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Movie: Namaste Wahala

This African movie is a film that touches on themes of love and morality.  While delving into these deep topics, the film found room to include humour while not becoming a comedy. I found this to be a fantastic way to deal with such a story.

The story centres around Didi (Ini Dima-Okojie) and Raj (Ruslaan Muntaz) and the trials and tribulations surrounding their love and family relationships.

Didi is a young lawyer who comes from a very successful family.  Her father Ernest (Richard Mofe-Damijo) runs a major corporate law firm and mother Shola (Joke Silva) was a banker before devoting her time to raising children.  Didi has been working with an NGO assisting abused women and does not seem too focused on her role in her father’s company.

Raj is a young investment banker from India.  He is an athletic guy who some might consider a “momma’s” boy.  His mother Meera (Sujata Sehgal) calls him constantly from her home in India.  She always worries about her only son like any real mother would.

Didi’s best friend is dramatic and funny.  She reminds me of the energetic friend who can be annoying at times, but is such a sweet friend that you just have to love her regardless.  The type of friend who always has your back and can be counted on.

Raj’s best friend is an aspiring Nigerian musician who lives across the hall.  The two are like brothers from different mothers.  They are always hanging out at Raj’s apartment and like to go jogging. They have spats like real brothers do, but their bond is unbreakable, just like real brothers.

I found the main characters in this movie likeable from the very beginning.  They each have their own quirks and characteristics which I found endearing.

Didi and Raj met by chance and fell in love.  They end up having to deal with their parents old-fashioned cultural preferences.  Raj’s mother disapproves of his desire to marry a Nigerian woman.  She worries that she will not be able to cook Indian food for him.  Didi’s dad disapproves of her wanting to marry an Indian man.  He would prefer she marry a Nigerian guy who works at his firm and he believes would make a good successor.

Both Didi and Raj must make some very difficult choices both professionally and family-wise. 

Didi also ends up in a situation where she must make some hard choices between her morals and profession all while dealing with problems from her father and Raj’s mother.

The story will rope you in from the very beginning and will have you going through all sorts of emotions from shock, surprise, laughter, sadness, anger, and even tears.  This is a beautiful story which I found to very inspiring.

Links

IMDB

Wikipedia

NetFlix