As FIFTY,
the new and exciting feature film from Ebony Life Films continues to coast home
to reverberating international acclaim, glory and recognition, renowned global
media giants have not stopped adding their voices to support the film, whose cast and crew were hosted by
the British Council to a pre-Premiere cocktail at Stephen St. Kitchen, London,
as part the build-up to its spell-binding World Screening which held last Saturday
in London.
BBC 1’s Controller, Charlotte Moore, was
at the London premiere and said, “Thank you so much for inviting me to the
FIFTY premiere. I really enjoyed it and it was great to watch it with such an
enthusiastic audience. It was funny, full of melodrama and disarmingly
touching and courageous at the same time - a side of Lagos you don't often get
to see and a really original film. I loved the cast and characters and it
was so refreshing to see a film that gave a voice to the ‘fifty-something’
women of Nigeria. I'm sure it will be a massive hit.”
Also, speaking with Mo Abudu
on Huw Edward's flagship news and current affairs programme, ‘BBC
News at FIVE’, based in their central London studios, Simon McCoy spotlighted
FIFTY with glowing tributes even as the Executive Producer, Mo Abudu, explained
how the movie, which tells the compelling story of four glamorous, middle class
women dealing with the same challenges that women all over the world deal with,
is quintessentially a celebration of the African woman of today in a global marketplace.
CNN also captures this all-important essence tersely, but
poignantly when it stated that FIFTY portrays “African women like never
before”, almost in corroboration of Amanda Neville, Chief Executive Officer of BFI
London’s opening remarks declaring the 2015 festival theme as “The Year
of the Strong Woman”. It turns out
there can be no better fitting theme for FIFTY, a riveting and
dramatic exploration of love and lust, power and rivalry, with seduction and
infidelity, set in Lagos, Nigeria.
Yet,
CNN and BBC are not alone in the effervescent review of the intriguing movie
which premiered on Saturday the 17th of October, 2015, at the BFI
London Film Festival. Viva Naija and
The Capital, two of the many eminent
platforms that followed the spectacular event from the colourful performance of
the famous UK-based Talking Drummers opener to the red carpet, to the actual
sold-out screening at Leicester Square, could not hold back their exciting
reviews.
For Viva Naija “The plot starts at a somewhat leisurely
pace – giving the audience a minute to assimilate and understand the characters
(or at least think they understand the characters). However in the space of 100
minutes, we find that all is not as it seems: an overly prayerful wife is in
fact dealing with a possibly-fatal illness; a
devil-may-care cougar is covering up pain from a previous marriage, a repeat
philanderer is truly searching for love (and may well have found it), a
ball-breaking boss in a male-dominated world finds herself pregnant and it
might be the best thing that ever happened to her, and an obnoxious diva is
covering a deep, dark family secret.”
Viva Naija reserved unfettered praise for the principal
players: “The director, Biyi Bandele;
the executive producer, Mo Abudu;
and The Four Titans: Ireti Doyle, Omoni
Oboli, Dakore Egbuson-Akande and Nse
Ikpe-Etim must be applauded for their valiant efforts in bringing a
whole new level of cinematic excellence to Nollywood. It may not be Titanic or
Lord of the Rings, but I didn’t see a single native doctor, and nobody ran mad.
The BFI chose well.”
The
Capital, with the caption, “Mo Abudu’s FIFTY gets thunderous ovation: Movie
wows audiences at the London Festival, to hit local cinemas on December 18”,
writes, “The archetypal filmmaker seeks to awaken consciousness to a
hidden layer amid the folds of reality in order to depict it or recapture its
fast-fading resonance. This is what Mo Abudu, EbonyLife TV boss, seeks to
achieve by bankrolling FIFTY, a movie. FIFTY explores the fascinating lives of
four female characters with salty humour and valour. Starring Iretiola Doyle,
Dakore Egbuson-Akande, Omoni Oboli and NseI kpe-Etim, the brand new movie from
Ebony Life Films captures the lives of the women at the pinnacle of their
careers.”
It
continues, “Although FIFTY aspires to be more than a slick soap opera,
underneath its feistiness it glistens with romantic fancies. Contributing to
the heady atmosphere is a luscious soundtrack of folk ballads rendered by King
Sunny Ade, Femi Kuti, Tiwa Savage and Waje, who all make cameo appearance.
Although the songs slip unobtrusively in and out of the background, they function
subliminally as romantic chorale that lends the movie depth and a crimson
romantic flush. That radiance complements the story’s phoenix locale, a posh
suburban delight of rosy sunsets, large pristine homes, offices among other
sceneries.”
The above well-deserved encomiums
and more that have continued to pour in after the London premiere of the movie
certainly crowd out a narrow-minded view which recently surfaced online
suggesting that the film’s plot, structure and authenticity may be in doubt. In
the face of the swelling global acceptance of FIFTY, such parochial suggestions
must be consigned to an insignificant footnote in the success story of this
amazing film, one which has made Africa proud as the
only film selected from Nigeria, and one of only five films from
the entire continent of Africa from 238 films selected globally for screening
at the 2015 BFI London Film Festival.
While
set to enjoy a worldwide distribution via Netflix
to 65 million homes globally, FIFTY will treat audiences to a special Grand
World Premiere in Nigeria on the 13th of December 2015at The Eko Hotel &
Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos. The film will them be released in cinemas
nationwide on the 18th of December, 2015, via a distribution partnership
with FilmOne, an independent distributor
of filmed entertainment, providing top-end film release services with emphasis
on the Nigerian territory.
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