In keeping with the tradition of Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF), the founder/festival director, Chioma Ude, has announced Orah as its opening night movie, a bold step to drive home this year’s theme: ‘Indigenous 2.0 Global’.
The film festival will hold from November 5-11, 2023 in Lagos. Written and directed by acclaimed Nigerian/Canadian filmmaker, Lonzo Nzekwe, Orah is produced by Nzekwe, Floyd Kane and Amos Adetuyi, and was shot in Canada and Nigeria in late 2022.
Speaking, Chioma Ude said, “Filmmaking is evolving rapidly in Africa with Nigeria at the forefront of the renaissance, and this year’s edition is designed to continue to reiterate the opportunities for African films and storytelling to reflect global perspectives for the sustained success of more local films globally. We intend to continue to empower our storytellers to explore ideologies and techniques that connect with the larger global audience. Orah is positioned as the open night movie to drive this expectation.”
A character-driven crime thriller, Orah showcases the story of a female taxi driver in Toronto embarking on a revenge tour to avenge the death of her son, who is brutally murdered by a high-profile Nigerian criminal in a drug trafficking operation.
Nzekwe describes how the movie became a revenge drama when in real life his brother was murdered in 2016 by a stray bullet fired by a corrupt police officer with the notorious Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
“That’s when the revenge angle became more intense. I had to travel to Nigeria to get to the root of how my brother was killed. That’s when the rage I had inside and the pain I saw on my mother’s face led to revenge thoughts, to getting my pound of flesh, and I realised the only way to deal with that was to channel it through a film, and I poured everything into the script,” he said.
Starring Oyin Oladejo as Orah Madukaku (Star Trek-Discovery), additional cast include Lucky Onyekachi Ejim (Kim’s Convenience) as Bami Hazar; Agape Mngomezulu as Tariq Hazar (The Parker Andersons); Morgan Bedard (Hard Rock Medical) as Eli Pope; Somkele Iyamah-Idhalama (Titans) as Lace; Oris Erhuero (We Were Once) as Agent Garuba; O.C. Ukeje (Brotherhood) as Agent Uche Odi; Femi Lawson (Because We Are) as Jimoh Sholola; and Christopher Seivright (Take Note) as Vincent Bailey.
With cinematography by Ricardo Diaz, production design by Mark Kowalsky, costume design by Chantel Bedward, editing by Marc Roussel and music by Felipe Téllez (Tomorrow), Orah is produced by Circle Blue Entertainment and Freddie Films in association with IronFlix Inc. with the participation of Telefilm Canada, Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC), and ONCreates Film Fund.
Level Film is the Canadian distributor.