Thursday, 28th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search
Arts  

Cameras Roll For Lords of the Creeks May 2016

By Editor
19 December 2015   |   11:51 pm
Baring any adjustment to the shooting schedule, the producers of the anticipated epic feature Lord of the Creek have hinted that they will crank cameras in May 2015.
Egbe

Egbe

Baring any adjustment to the shooting schedule, the producers of the anticipated epic feature Lord of the Creek have hinted that they will crank cameras in May 2015. In fact, lead producer of the film Albert Egbe had said that principal photography would commence ‘before the raining season next year’ although he disclosed the readiness of the cast and crew to start shoot earlier, funds permitting.

The veteran actor and former Treasurer-General of the Federation of Pan African Cineaste (FEPACI) who has been in the country on a pre-production mission stated that a few Deltans he has sold the idea to are excited about it.

As he put it, “The Nana story is a familiar narrative and they want it to be told. It is not the first time this story will be told but the angle we are looking at has never been approached before. And the angle we are approaching now is very Afro-centric. We want to show the world that we had a say at one time in our destiny and that it wasn’t just come and take and go at one point. We had a say and we also had a government in place before the white people came”.

Egbe will be credited as writer and producer as well as actor when Lord of the Creeks is ready. He revealed that Nigerian-born but South Africa-based actress and producer Rosemary Dacosta would direct the film.

“You know at the Cannes this year, people were asking for African films and films by female directors. So, these are the two things I am also trying to satisfy. Get an African film and also a film by a female director. So my crew are totally going to be from Nigeria and South Africa and for cast we shall include actors from the U.K.,” he said.

Interestingly, Egbe is going to source equipment from Nigeria for the production. Observers consider the decision a great development considering that most producers of international projects such as this one have always shipped in equipment including a clapperboard. But Egbe said they would source major equipment from Nigeria because, like he noted, “We have equipment here now to shoot a world-class film. The other day I went to Golden effects studio owned by Kunle Afolayan and I was amazed at the equipment they have. It compares with what I have been seeing in South Africa. Now, I don’t have to bring down every equipment to shoot because we have a lot of good equipment here”.

Egbe is looking forward with a lot of optimism towards the production, which he hopes would move filmmaking in Nigeria and the continent to another level. He expressed optimism that the project would turn out well, stressing, too, that the intention is to tell an African story with an international connotation and also to make an international production that would match productions from any part of the world.

Funding is key to the realization of the project and Egbe, who just added a bachelors degree in psychology to his already filled academic pouch, said he was not unaware of it, a reason he is in town as part of the pre-production and fund-raising effort for the film.

According to him, “My main funding will come from Deltans, Itsekeri people and Nigerians. But I’m also combining my funding experience in South Africa and also my experience in the U.K. So, it is going to be a tripartite sort of unofficial co-production. So there will be a Nigerian input, a South African input and a U.K. input.

“In fact, one of the actors I am thinking of using is Pierce Brosna with whom I acted in Mr. Johnson in 1990. So these are the inputs I am working on in trying to make a rather special film and a statement that we can actually match foreign films and that we can actually produce something that will fly across the globe and screen at major festivals around the world”.

0 Comments