Author of ‘Ladies Calling the Shots’ unites KWASU students with movie directors

The Kwara State University (KWASU), Malete, was a convergence point for film students, movie makers and enthusiasts on Wednesday.

Niran Adedokun, author of “Ladies Calling the Shots”, a book which articulates the creative efforts of select female directors in Nigeria’s movie industry, held an interactive session.

Issues on the 251-page book were discussed at the department of film and film production at the university’s school of visual and performing arts.

To mark its first edition of “Nollywood’s Town Meets Gown’’, Elizabeth Olayiwola, co-ordinator, Centre for Nollywood and New Media in Africa (CiNNeMA), KWASU,  teamed up with the author to have three of the directors discussed in the book engage with the film students.

AbdulRasheed Na’Allah, the vice chancellor, was also in attendance.

He expressed his satisfaction at seeing the author of Ladies Calling The Shots alongside three of the 17 directors highlighted in the literary effort.

The film screening sessions were moderated by Joe Odedina who introduced the audience to the 90-minute movie titled, “Kasala” directed and produced by EmaEdosio.

The movie ‘Kasala’ had been screened at several international film festivals across the globe despite its rejection by some cinemas in Nigeria.

The movie tells the story of the resilience of four young men from a less-privileged community who are bound by their ambition in music as a career.

The fast-paced suspenseful drama which lasted one day is a true Nigerian story that provoked laughter and excitement as its existential themes resonated with the youthful audience.

Macaulay’s “Green Passport in the Rainbow Nation’’ was the second movie to be screened at the event.

The 30-minute documentary focuses on the lives of Nigerians in South Africa. It featured interviews with Uche Ajulu-Okeke, Nigerian consular general, Nigerian students at South African University, Nigerian entrepreneurs and others.

The documentary is an expose on the xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in South Africa, the cases of criminals who steal Nigerian identity and the peculiarities of being a Nigerian in South Africa.

For Osunkojo, the screening of her work titled, “The Life of a Nigerian Couple’’ was a thrill to the audience with a careful deployment of new media techniques in film making to tell the story of a young couple whose marriage is experiencing teething problems.

Macaulay, Edosio and Osunkojo interacted with the students after their movies were screened.

Film students who filled were evidently overjoyed at the opportunity to receive hands-on tutelage from these accomplished filmmakers and quite a number of them.

In his remarks, Adedokun explained the rationale behind bringing the book and the subjects in it to the university.

“When I saw the stories of the women in the book, I saw that the book is really an inspirational material especially in these days that models are rare,” he said.

“The young ones are bereft of ideas about the kind of people they should follow. You see the get rich quick idea everywhere. These ladies are where they are today because they have passed through all sorts of stages. We thought it could be a good way to inspire girls and even young men who are aspiring to be in the film business or actually want to become anything significant in life.”

Below are some pictures: