Interview with Movie director Obi Emelonye “Last Flight to Abuja” Set to Land in Lagos Cinemas

Obi Emelonye is one movie director that has his mind set on raising the bar in movie production in Nigeria and is succeeding at it. He is a movie director, producer and writer with movies like Echoes of War, London Successor, Mirror Boy and recently released Last Flight to Abuja to his credit. His movie, Mirror Boy won a total of 27 awards including Screen Nation Awards and is officially the most awarded Nigerian film. Last Flight to Abuja which was recently premiered in London, is already receiving good reviews and has been rated four star by Odeon Cinemas, UK.


Five days to the London premiere of your latest movie Last Flight to Abuja, a major tragedy similar to what was portrayed in the movie befell Nigeria. How did you pull through with the event despite the situation?
It was a difficult one. The first reaction was to cancel the premiere out of respect to the people that lost their lives. Coincidentally, I was returning to London from Nigeria that day. I called my people and told them the premiere was off, but they said no. So we met, we consulted the Nigerian High Commission, we spoke to stakeholders, stars of the film, some of the victims’ families and their opinion was that this film was meant to highlight some of the problems that caused the lives of these people. If they were alive, they would have wanted the premiere to go ahead. So grudgingly, and with the greatest amount of respect, we decided to go ahead with the premiere.

Can you describe the general feel of the atmosphere at the London premiere?
It was a beautiful event but we had to tone it down. We removed all the razzmattaz and all the shakara that we were supposed to do before. Our brochure was in black and white out of respect, we listed the names of all the people on the people on the Dana flight on the brochure, we removed the end credit of the film and substituted it with the names on the manifest again, we observed a one-minute silence. In the end, it became a very somber event that celebrated Nollywood’s attempt at a more technical film and also the lives of the people that were needlessly wasted in those crashes.



Shooting a movie on an airplane with all the technicalities involved is something that is not common in Nollywood. Tell us about the challenges you faced while shooting?
The only thing I would say is that for a Nollywood film, it cost a lot of money. But for Hollywood which is where we are trying to compete with, it is peanuts. But to give you an in indication of what we spent, we shot on the plane for 14 days, we cleared 70-80 people everyday for 14 days to come air side. We are not talking about passing through security and staying in the waiting area, but next to the plane. What it cost me in diplomacy and in naira to get a working plane that would taxi was very expensive. To assemble the kind of cast from Hollywood and the best of Nollywood cost money. The camera that we used cost N650,000 to rent per day. There is only one of it in Nigeria owned by Koga Studios. Put all of that together, it begins to give you an idea of what we tried to do.

Where was the movie shot?
We shot predominantly in Lagos. We captured the vibrancy, the traffic, the colours of Lagos. When you watch the film, with the soundtrack of Wazobia and Cool Fm, you get the feel of being in a very buzzy, busy city.


Why then did you decide to have the world premiere of the movie in London?
I live in London and I feel that Nigeria is already conquered, Nollywood is already known in Nigeria. What we are trying to do is to make it more international. The more international acclaim and momentum we have, the better it will work in Africa.


You had an interesting combination of Nollywood and Hollywood stars in the movie. What informed your choice of actors and how did you put this cast together?
Because of the film we were trying to do and in line with the boldness and ambition of the film, I felt we had to push the boundaries a little bit and go for an ensemble star cast. So we went for Hakeem Kae Kazim who is representing us in Hollywood. When I sent him the script, he was in love with it. Then the beautiful queen of Nollywood, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde has been on the top of her game for a long time. I was part of Jim Iyke’s development around 2000 so it was a reunion working with him. There is also Ali Nuhu which is the best thing to come out of Kannywood film industry. Jide Kosoko is known mainly for Yoruba films but he’s a very experienced actor who brought some level of maturity and panache to the role of the business executive that he played. Uru Eke and Anthony Monjaro are very strong upcoming actors in Nollywood. And I also introduced Celine Loader, the Special Adviser to the Central Bank of Nigeria who played the pilot.


The movie had a sponsorship endorsement from Diamond Bank which is one of the few times we’ve seen large financial institutions endorsing Nollywood movies. Tell me about this deal.
I am not going to mention the amount they gave me but what I value most in this partnership with them is their endorsement. The accreditation that comes from a huge corporate giant in Nigeria saying we are proudly supporting your project. I take a lot of pride in what they’ve done.


There’s some rumour going round that you intend to cast Hollywood Star actress, Halle Berry in your next movie, Safari. How true it that?
It was a mistake mentioning names and that has almost jeopardized our relationship with the agents we had been discussing with. The aim is to make a Nigerian film with a Nigerian soul but with a contribution from a Hollywood A-lister who would give us the kind of international appeal we need. So we are talking to a few A-listers from Hollywood, one of them is the one that you’ve mentioned. It would happen and Safari would be shot and open doors for us internationally.


I read somewhere that your last movie, Mirror Boy made over N18million from screening in Nigerian Cinemas. What is your anticipation from Last Flight to Abuja?
I don’t measure the success of my film in naira and kobo. It is not everything that is valuable that is measurable. I’m taking a long term strategic view of my career and making films that connect with people, that sticks in their mind and eventually the money will catch up.


What are the challenges you face as a movie director in Nigeria?
When we were relying solely on DVD, it was the inadequacy of the distribution channels and the lack of trust and confidence among practitioners of the distribution network. The advent of cinemas in Nigeria presented new opportunities. I owe some credit to some of those guys that have pushed the boundaries to where we have our films showing in the cinemas.


Tell me more about you. What is your educational background and how did you come about being a movie director?
I studied Theater Arts at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. I played football as a student but when I graduated, I played for Rangers and Julius Berger. Then I went to London to play football but when that wasn’t working as fast as I wanted it to, I fell back on my degree. I picked up stage productions but I discovered that it was a lot of hard work. Then I studied law, I practiced as a solicitor up till 2007. By this time, I was making films alongside. I continued to have two parallel careers but at some point, on my 40th birthday, I made the decision to do what I love and enjoy what I do so I decided to jettison the wig and gown and at that point, I decided to concentrate on film making.


Did you have any formal training in movie directing?
When I was practicing law, I took courses in editing, in screen directing, and post production. They are not formal degrees.


Your movies are bound to have mixed reactions from viewers, some would love it and some would criticize it. How you handle critics?
I bear in mind that I cannot please everybody so I accept the criticism when they are constructive. I take it on board and move on to the next project.


A very vital part of why I was interested in meeting you is that I read somewhere that you donated a kidney to your younger brother who needed a kidney transplant. Tell me about that. How did you come about donating a kidney to your brother? 
My younger brother was diagnosed with a kidney condition in 2008 and we felt it would go away but it didn’t. Things came to a crunch in 2010 when he went on dialysis and we had to act. Myself and my five brothers were ready to be donors. We all had tests and the matches were close but it came down to who had the time and independence to go and spend time in India for it happen. Then it came down to me.


When you decided to donate your kidney to your brother, did you face any form of resistance from your friends and family (wife and children)?
From the point I realized that he needed help, I told my wife that I was going to do it. Naturally, every woman would say why you? You are risking yourself and risking us for somebody else. But I said it could have been me. What if it was me and my brother’s wife stopped him from helping me, how would you feel? My children were then too young to appreciate what I was going on. At the time, my eldest son was just 7.
Many friends of mine told me that I was crazy, that my life belonged to my wife and my children and not my brother and I told them they were only saying that because the shoe was on the other foot.

Obi Emelonye & Wife + Kids

How is your brother now? Has the donation affected your health in any way?
I donated my left kidney to my brother and he is better now. I have one kidney but it has made me lighter, I can fly now. I can still jog, I still play football. I got so much blessings from my mother who was moved to tears. She told me that my life had been in progression for what I did. I never smoke, never drank, and she told me I was preparing my life all these years for this sacrifice that would keep my brother alive.


What is the best lesson you’ve drawn from this experience?
That life is a gift. Live today as if it’s your last. One minute it’s there, and the next it might not be there. And also, do not hold material things too close to your heart. Share your heart, share your life. My brother is healthy today. His wife has her husband, his children have their father all because of one simple deed that only cost me two and a half months in India and made me lighter.


Your movie would have its Lagos premiere in a few days and Nigeria would have a chance to see the movie. What should people be expecting when they come to watch the movie at the cinemas?
Lagosians would see the vibrant, colourful, edgy, dynamic Lagos on the big screen. For everyone in Nigeria, they would see a bold Nollywood attempt at a technical subject matter. A well researched, well acted, well scripted, well presented and wonderfully packaged film that looks at the aviation industry like we’ve never seen before. The ins and outs, behind the scenes of what happens on the plane, it’s an eye opener. It’s not a sadistic film because it’s related to a disaster but you’d come out of the cinema feeling elated. You’d feel like you’ve been taken to the edge but haven’t been pushed off the edge.

Last Flight to Abuja would premiere in Lagos at the Genesis Deluxe Cinema on Friday, 3rd August 2012.

‘GET DOWN TONIGHT’ WITH BANKY W, WIZKID AND SKALES

It’s the third installment of the EME videos!

Banky W, Skales and Wizzy hold it down on the Mr Moe Musa-directed video shot in London right after completing the EME UK concert. What to expect? Flashing lights, lot of pretty girls and Banky’s shiny suit! Cool!

‘People who criticise me have not listened to my music’ Omotola speaks.....

Undoubtedly, one of Nollywood’s favorite actresses, Omotola Jalade Ekeinde shares in this interview her experience growing up as well as how she has managed to balance her marriage, career, and kids.

Let’s talk about your latest flick, Last Flight to Abuja. Tell us about the significance of your character in it.
My character was Suzie. It’s one of those type of stories where you have different mini stories running side by side, and then they all have a common ground, and that common ground is a plane where we all met. My own story is, I’m a young lady working in Abuja, in a relationship with a guy who stays in Lagos, and we’re having issues because he thinks I’m too career minded, so I decide to pay him a surprise visit and I get into the plane to Lagos to do that. So, there are different stories of different people all on this flight to Lagos. I think what I want to celebrate in this movie is that in life, spend every day like it’s your last; you just never know when, though our hope and future is bright and promises for us to be great, but you have to love people, say the things you need to say, and live right the best way you possibly can.

Prior to your getting the script, have you had a similar experience, with your husband being a pilot and you being a regular flier?

Luckily no, I hope never to have such an experience, but I remember my husband had something close to that, there was a little crash, and he flew that day, and I think he dropped the plane that eventually crashed, which our friend Captain Adebayo took away and then unfortunately crashed, so I don’t know if that gives me any kind of credence or any kind of extra emotion for this movie, but just to answer your question that’s the closest shave I’ve had to that kind of thing.

Still talking about planes, you got married in one, what was that like? 
I got married in 2001, and we thought of something that might be different. My husband and I are kind of crazy people, we’d been married at the registry for a while and we were planning the white wedding and we thought we couldn’t just have a usual wedding and then go to church and all of that, so let’s just really do something different, so we were thinking of a destination or a very nice cool resort to celebrate everybody, to invite different couples, but we thought about logistics, and then my husband just came up with the idea ‘What if we did it on plane on a destination to somewhere?’ We started the whole process and it was very tough getting the papers right, and even to get approval, it just had never been done before. Soon, people started saying are you crazy, are you people serious, but the end of the day, thank God, we did it and it was a beautiful wedding

So where did you fly to?

It was Lagos to Benin. We couldn’t get approval for anything farther and we actually wanted to do an International flight but the procedure and the cost was enormous.

Sixteen years down the line, how has the marriage fared?

Thank God it’s been wonderful, I don’t like to talk too much about it, but again, why should I be ashamed to talk about something good? And maybe I could just be encouraging somebody out there. It has been very good, I have a very wonderful marriage and I give most of the glory all to God who I depend on, because if everything was up to me, things would have been downhill and secondly, I would give most of that credit to my husband, because I think I’m the difficult one. To keep up with my career, my schedule and everything, he’s been very supportive, extremely supportive and I thank God.

How about your kids?

My first kid is going to be fifteen years old and I have a fourteen, twelve and seven year old.

How do you juggle your busy career and taking care of the growing kids?
I’m a very hands-on mum, but my kids think I’m extremely strict. I was raised by a very strict mum, an Egba woman. She used to sit on me and I don’t even sit on my kids. I grew up with a woman who was extremely over board with the discipline and I have to cut back a little bit of those things and infuse some of the modern things, I use most of the verses from the bible, I always tell my kids that the bible says spare your kids of the rod and in future they will come and hit you, so basically if I hit you, it’s not because I don’t like you or that I’m doing it out of anger, it means you need correction, so that’s the way I trained them. I tell them I could be your friend just a little bit, but my job is to be your parent.

From all what you have said, you seem to be enjoying a stable home, coupled with your booming career. Would you say at this point, you are successful?
Oh no I’m not, I think when you are fulfilled, then your job is done and you might as well start packing up to go to Heaven. I’m not fulfilled, I’m content and I’ve always been, even when I had nothing. I learnt on time that if you give God the attitude of ‘so why haven’t I gotten it’? I think it pisses God off because everything you have, somebody has none of it. There is something you have that somebody else needs desperately, so if we can just look back and be grateful for everything, those other things will come, because God knows you are going to be grateful for them when they come. Even though I want more and hope for more, I don’t act like its hurting me, I make do with what I have and it has always worked for me.

You are associated with a couple of NGOs, Amnesty International, Shell and your own OYEP. How did you come to be a part of it?

It would have been a waste if I am this fire brand and I don’t use it for anything other than to talk, so I thought the best way to use that is to help other people. It’s just wonderful when you don’t have to campaign or win elections before you can make influences. I realised that when I tried a little bit, people were reacting to it and it was blessing to people, so I just went on and on. I started working with the UNWFP, we were able to influence different ideas and raise money for food for children in Somalia, Liberia and other countries in Africa. From there, my passion grew, so I decided to have my own NGO, which is OYEP. It was supposed to be a movement, but we couldn’t register it as such, so we had to develop the less activist side of us and made it an NGO. There is also a softer side of OYEP, which is the ‘Give and Lets Give’ which is what we do every year, and then Amnesty International approached me. They said they had seen some of my work and needed a female that could advocate for some of their beliefs.

Where does Occupy Nigeria occupy in your activist roll call?

Occupy Nigeria was actually in conjunction with OYEP. I got a call from Chude [Jideonwo] and Adebola [Williams, both of RED Nigeria] and asked that I get on board. Initially, I didn’t want to get involved because as an Amnesty International spokesperson, I shouldn’t be practising Politics, and I told them the only reason I will join this fight is if you add to your agenda, the cause of the women in Jos, whose children were being killed, so after a while, they did and I was able to join on that note, but it ended up with Omotola in the forefront and after a while, they said Omotola take over this thing. I guess I’m just too loud for my own good.

Let’s delve into your career as an actress. Your first movie was in 1995, titled Venom of Justice. Since then, what are the things you think have changed about Omotola as an actress?

A lot, I have grown, like everybody else in any kind of career. When I started acting, I had no prior training. The first set of movies that were out were the Ibo movies, so we were like the first real movie stars, so it was very new to us. We didn’t know how to handle it or how to react. Everybody was new on the job, we didn’t have good costumiers or makeup artistes, so we had major challenges and couldn’t sustain professionals in the industry as at then. Personally, because there weren’t many role models, we didn’t know how to act in public, it was however you felt. For me, it was even harder because I think I’m the first actress who has actually gotten married and had four kids while on the job. Also, I had them in quick succession, so it was a lot for me to handle. I had a lot of issues to deal with, my image and body changing every now and then, but you have to grow and become mature and become your own self and that has helped me a lot, and I’m still learning.

And 17 years after, you still are in demand, so what will you say is responsible for that?

I wanna first give all the glory to God. I’m not the prettiest or the most intelligent in this game. I’m not the best actress and I don’t think I’m the one who has the best attitude or PR, I always ask God for his grace to let me know what to do. You have to always ask God for the manner of the present. Its new challenges every day, so I ask God to teach me, and having said that, you really have to work hard and I try very hard to work hard. I mean I’ve been knocked down a lot of times, I can’t even start to telI the press things I have to deal and contend with. I think I have had one of the biggest battles in this industry to be here. I have been attacked a whole lot of times.

Physically?

Physically, spiritually, so much. The truth of the matter is you have to always remember that there is nothing special about you. It’s just grace and you don’t want to take it for granted and if God is doing His part, you have to do your part, because there are younger, more aggressive people coming up. You have to be consistent and be yourself and continue to work hard.

You have been acting for a while now, any plan to delve into production?

I’m still trying to get my hands on music, I can’t handle any more. If I can’t do it well, I won’t do it. I’m so hard on myself that if I know I won’t do it well, I won’t do it at all. I have struggled so much in the acting that I don’t think I want to struggle again in the production aspect. I have done a soap opera, which I directed. It was actually on Africa Magic. It’s a lot of work to produce; I didn’t even produce my soap, I just directed it. Directing is something I would love to do, but I don’t think I will anytime soon.

Away from acting, let’s talk about your music.

I think people who criticise me have not listened to my music. I call my music inspirational music, not necessarily gospel. I sing about issues and my second album, which is yet to be out, has been ready since 2010. I have been shooting videos and if its not right, I am not going to put it out. If it was about money, I would have given it to a marketer. Do you know how many marketers are asking for that CD? I got a lot of money from my first album, but I realised that was not my dream; it wasn’t done the way I would have loved it to be and this second album, I wanna handle it the way I want to.

Your last album had you playing with different genre of songs. Will this forthcoming album be a more focused one?

I consider myself a rock artiste. In the first album, they didn’t let me do rock because they said nobody will buy it, so I’m gradually getting back to what inspires me, which is Rock, so I do pop-rock. Most of my songs have rock influences, but I came out with more of it in this new album. Just a few of the songs are hip hop, I did one with Vector and another with Mode 9, but most of my songs have a rock feel.

So when will the album be out?

We are looking at it coming out before the end of December. We are about to shoot three more videos. We are shooting one with Clarence and working with Aje, which is what I think was the problem with first album.

Do you have your husband’s support with your dresses ?

My husband is extreme, I can’t wear some things my husband buys for me. He’s an enlightened person. He’s one of those who believes in the heart. Even with his kids, initially, I used to think he was so obsessed with me, that’s why he doesn’t care about anything but even with his kids, he trusts them a lot and that’s one thing I have learnt from him. He watches all of my movies and supports me.

And how does he react with the romantic scenes?

I’ll tell you the truth, there are some he does not watch. He would tell me do what you’ve got to do but forewarn me. He will never say, I’m going to stop you for doing it, but will rather say, if it’s that bad, I don’t want to watch it.

For somebody who has spent over 17 years in the industry, what is your take about their desperate attitudes? 

It’s two ways, desperation is not a bad thing. It’s only when you apply it in the wrong way. It’s actually a tool that should propel you if you use it well. I think the problem is now they use it for bad, and I always tell the young ones, if you allow your desperation to make you the things you are not proud of, it will come out and put you in a bad place. By God’s grace, I can stand tall today and say nobody made me. I worked hard to be whoever I am.

How do you react to the impression that Omotola is proud and snobbish?

I guess it was in those days when we didn’t have social media and people couldn’t reach you and they thought that. I guess I have this demeanour that makes people think I’m always in my own zone, and for that reason they assume I’m a snob. I’m two extremes, I can be overly bubbly and overly quiet, I am never really in the middle.

You are one of the highest paid actresses, so how much do you charge for films?

So that they will come and meet me abi?

On a final note, you got married at the tender age of 18. If your 16 year old daughter tells you she wants to do the same, what will be your reaction?

If he’s as good as my husband or better, why not? If he falls short, then no.