‘A Place In The Stars’ a thriller you must watch

BY ADA DIKE

From left -Jahman Anikulapo, Segun Arinze, Steve Gukas and Gideon Okeke at the Industry announcement of the movie; A Place in the Stars

Toyin Akinoso, Steve Gukas, Kufre Ekanem (Corporate Affairs Adviser, Nigerian Breweries Plc.)

Movie Still- Gidi&Yemi

Movie Still- Gideon Night Car Chase

Gidi and Yemi in a scene

Sege in the movie scene

Freedom Park, Lagos, came alive last week Wednesday evening, August 20, 2014, when guests converged to witness the announcement of a narrative feature film, “A Place in the Stars”.
Produced by one of Nigeria’s pioneers film and television company, Native Filmworks Limited, the film was inspired by the former Director General of
National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the former Minister of Information and Communication, the Late Prof. Dora Akunyili.

It will be difficult for the guests who came from all walks of life that filled the hall to the brim to forget the exciting experience they had that day as they were treated to two musical videos which preceded the thriller.

A Place in the Stars was produced in conjunction with Jungle FilmWorks, Massive Entertainment, Consolidated Media Associates, Pepper Fruit Consult, MichelAngelo Productions and T-Large Media.

The film, which was directed and produced by respected film maker, Steve Gukas, is a riveting account of drug trafficking; it focuses on how fake and adulterated medical drugs are being traded for billions of dollars – dangerous men willing to kill to protect this money and a young man with a nagging conscience sworn to get rich or die trying in a very corrupt country. How far is he willing to go?

“A Place in the Stars” features some of the best actors in Nigeria and international; the likes of award winning actor, Segun Arinze who is often identified for playing the role of a villain. Also starring in the movie are, Gideon Eche-Okeke, Dejumo Lewis, Yemi Blaq, Femi Branch, Matilda Obaseki, Julian Mcdowell, Armajit Deu and Amaka Mgbor.

Set in 2006 Nigeria, “A Place in the Stars” tells the story of Kim Dakim (Gideon Okeke), a young lawyer who gets a client with a case that leaves him conflicted. He has information that can save many lives if he passes it on, but he also stands to make millions of dollars if he doesn’t. In a very corrupt country where everyone loves money and no one cares how you make it, Kim sees this as his chance to make it big. Problem is Diokpa Okonwo (Segun Arinze) the king pin of the counterfeit medical drugs trade who his case is against, doesn’t play nice. He kills at will to protect his million dollar trade and is not pulling punches against Kim and his client. He has Kim’s client in jail and assassins out to silence Kim. Suddenly Kim is at war on two fronts; one to stay alive and the other against his conscience and everything he has been raised to believe is right.

From the story treatment to screenplay, costume and production design to the production format, cast and crew, “A Place in the Stars” turned out to be an A-game performance in all.

The movie is scheduled to Premiere in – Lagos/Abuja, South Africa, Kenya and in the West – London and New York/Houston Texas.

Below is the crew:

The producer and director of “A Place In The Stars” with a huge experience spanning Television, Theatre, Advertising and Film, Steve Gukas, speaking at the event, said that he came up with the story to honour Prof. Akunyili, whose zeal and work to curb the menace of fake and adulterated drugs helped to save a lot of lives in Nigeria. 

The actor in the film, Kim, who has vital information to save lives, is a man while the former NAFDAC DG, whose role spurred Gukas to produce the film, is a female. Asked why he didn’t change the storyline and make Kim a female, he said: “Sometimes, you go the way the story came to you. The story came to me that it was a man that did all things the character needed to do. I won’t say a woman cannot work well to act the role but I won’t like to portray a woman that way,” he explained.

Commenting on the amount they spent in the production of the film, he said the film gulped over a million dollars.

With a diploma in TV Production from the NTA Television College in Jos and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre Arts at the University of Jos, Steve is the producer of Africa’s biggest film to date. Namibia – The Struggle For Liberation” the film starring Danny Glover and Carl Lumbly premiered at the 2006 Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles and has gone on to win many awards.

His other works include “Keeping Faith”, “Katanga”, “Three Scores and Ten”, “A life to View”, “Soweto”, and “Mr Johnson”. He has also produced and directed several of commercials and documentaries.

As a director, Steve’s strong suit lies in coaxing great performances out of actors as well as a strong sense of story and character. These he combines with a collaborative approach to film making that allows each picture he makes benefit from the creative vent of all the key creative crew members on the project.

Director of Photography -- John Demps is a member of the international Association of Cinematographers and has shot amongst many other feature films. His credits include: Phat Girlz, Menance 2 Society, Warming By The Devils Fireside, The Visit, Constellation, Namibia – The Struggle For Liberation and Finding Buck McHenry, he has on the hit TV series Moesha.

His documentary credits include, Alex Haley – A Tribute, Where Angels Fall and Silent Bomb, among others. John has worked with top directors like Martin Scorcese, Charles Burnet and Spike Lee and has lit productions for the likes of Showtime, HBO and Newline. He is also a winner of several awards for Cinematography.

The film’s Key castinclude:

Segun Arinze – (Diokpa Okonkwo)

Segun Arinze is one of the Nigeria’s finest actors. He is a graduate of Theatre Arts from the University of Ife (Now, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife) and also schooled in Method Acting with the Chuck Mike Theatre.

He is an award winning actor reputed for playing bad guy roles in most of his films. As an ebullient and consummate actor, he has given great performances both on stage and screen over the last twenty years.

Segun screen credits include: “The Silent Night”, “Church in Crisis”, “Darkest Night”, “Battle of Love”, “Atlanta” and the popular TV soap operas Mega Fortune and Ripples.

Segun Arinze plays the role of Diokpa Okonkwo a business man who imports fake and adulterated drugs into Nigeria in “A Place In The Stars”.  His portrayal of this role is poignant and memorable.

Gideon Eche-Okeke – (Kim Dakim)

Gideon Eche-Okeke is a breakout talent who launched an on-screen career six years back after a stint on the Nigerian version of the hit reality series Big Brother (Nigeria). He plays the lead role in “A Place In The Stars”

He is currently playing a lead role on MNET Africa’s Daily drama series Tinsel, as Philip Ade-Williams.

With several nominations to his name (“Actor Of The Year” at the Future Awards 2009, “Best Actor In A Drama Series, NEA Awards 2010) as well as bagging the “Best Actor In A TV Series” award at the NEA Awards, New York, this young actor is ready to take on the challenge of global audience.

Gideon recently concluded training at THE Lee Strasberg Theatre And Film Institute, New York, with intense training in Method Acting.

Dejumo Lewis – (Pa Dakim)

Dejumo graduated with a degree in Philosophy in 1967, he got trained internationally in film and television production before going on to attain an academic second degree in Communication Arts from the University of Ibadan in 1991.

His foray into acting started from childhood, but took on added motivation in the auspicious 1959 year (January) when Omo Ademola began his secondary education in the same ancient city, Ibadan, Nigeria.

In 1968, his catholic priesthood studies was truncated as he providentially opted to join the pioneering cast of the most successful African television-movie series, “The Village Headmaster” as “Kabiyesi”. He was also programme officer at the Nigerian Television Service, NTS, in Lagos. He later became involved as Producer/Director of the first Nigerian all-location based TV-movie serial, “Cockcrow at Dawn”, in 1982.

Dejumo Lewis has had appearances on the hit TV series Tinsel and is the star of the largely successful sitcom “The Valley Between”. He plays the role of Pa Dakim, Kim’s father and nagging conscience in “A Place in the Stars”.