Principal photography begins on ‘Shijuwomi’

Filming on Shijuwomi, a post-colonial cinematic adaptation of Rasheed Gbadamosi’s book, Behold My Redeemer, has begun under the stylish direction of award-winning theatre/TV/film director and screenwriter, Niji Akanni (Aramotu, Heroes and Zeroes).

When a pampered girl, Shijuwomi, who has travelled to England to study attempts suicide, prompting the decision to repatriate her home, she is moved to an institution where she meets Dr. Ilori, a lecturer in Anthropology who eventually marries her.

However, the marriage does not 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, and Jude Chukwuka.

Akanni, who has been described by commentators as Nigeria’s own Akira Kurosawa, is the director. He has written many award-winning films, such as 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 such as Abobaku and 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 9th 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, Akanni looks set to deliver another cinematic masterpiece adapted for the screen by the trio of Ola Rotimi, 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 and 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.

In 2005, Awala directed the award-winning political thriller, Prince of the Savannah, written by Yinka Ogun and starring 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.

“This project has been in the works for over two decades. I have always being fascinated with this story since I first directed it on stage in 1969,” Awala said.

“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.”

Renowned economist and accomplished art collector, Rasheed Abiodun Gbadamosi serves as executive producer for this project. Gbadamosi 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.

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.