James Omokwe, the Nigerian filmmaker, is set to premiere his highly anticipated historical film ‘Osamede’ on October 17.
Set in the historic Benin Kingdom, the movie aims to shift the narrative from destruction to rebirth, centering on a powerful heroine endowed with supernatural abilities to protect her people.
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In a recent interview with TheCable Lifestyle, Omokwe explained his vision to focus on the kingdom’s resilience rather than its well-documented downfall.
“While there have been films addressing the destruction of the kingdom, I wanted to focus on its potential for rebirth and resilience,” he said.
The film also challenges industry norms by placing female empowerment at its core.
The filmmaker also revealed that the production was not without its challenges, but credited his cultural consultant Osagie and the people of Benin for their invaluable support and meticulously documented history, which was crucial for authenticity.
“A lot of people have heard about how the Benin kingdom in itself and the environments around was one of the greatest kingdoms that existed in the world. And how that was taken away again by the invasion,” he said.
“Now we hear it in stories but we have not necessarily seen it play out. And there have been a couple of adult films that have been created.
“I feel like there are more stories that can be told or that should be told about this great kingdom. And I am not trying to dwell on what we know has happened.
“I wanted us to tell a story about how that kingdom can rise. And how to portray the characters of the story, how they did not stay down long enough.
“So what this does historically is give a tiny glimpse visually at making the audience and actually participants into seeing what happened during this attack.
“But most importantly, what happened during the 1914s and just moving forward in that great kingdom. And also hopefully to inspire us that even though this story happened many years ago, maybe a hundred and something years ago.
“Now we can take the lessons from ‘Osamede’ and the lessons from my people and apply that knowledge in our own country today.”
Omokwe also spoke about the male-dominated nature of both historical narratives and the film industry and why the film needed a heroine.
“I think that a lot of times, and I do not know if it is because we live in a male-dominated society, or I do not want to use that particular word people use all the time,” he said.
“But I feel like there are a lot of stories that are more centred with male heroes. There is an ideology that it is always the man that is going to save the day. The intention to use ‘Osamede’ was always there,” he added.
“The original story was more written like Queen Esther. And so it was a case of there was a woman that stood in the gap for her people, but she was married to a king.”
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