After garnering international acclaim in London, the highly anticipated film adaptation of Wole Soyinka’s prison memoir The Man Died is set to make its domestic rounds at three prestigious Nigerian festivals this November, according to a statement from the film’s promoters.
The feature film, which stars AMVCA Actor of the Year Wale Ojo alongside veteran performers Sam Dede and Norbert Young, will begin its local circuit at the 13th African International Film Festival (AFRIFF) on November 4. According to festival organisers, the screening will take place at 7pm at The Palms Shopping Mall in Lekki, Lagos.
“The film captures a crucial moment in Nigerian history through the lens of personal experience,” said Femi Odugbemi, the film’s producer and CEO of Zuri24 Media Lagos. The adaptation chronicles Soyinka’s harrowing 27-month imprisonment by the Nigerian government in 1967 during the onset of the civil war, when he attempted to broker peace between Biafra and the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The film’s domestic showcase will continue at the Lagos Book & Art Festival (LABAF) on November 13 at the Agip Hall, MUSON Centre. This screening holds particular significance as LABAF has declared 2024 “The Soyinka Year,” dedicating its 26th edition to celebrating the Nobel laureate’s contributions to literature and human rights activism. The festival, dubbed the “biggest Cultural Picnic on the continent of Africa,” will explore the theme “BREAKOUT: Hope is a Stubborn Thing.”
The Eastern Nigeria International Film Festival (ENIFF) has selected The Man Died as its opening film for its November 27 premiere in Enugu. The choice resonates deeply with the festival’s 2024 theme “Reimagine,” which explores storytelling’s power to reshape narratives and drive social impact.
Directed by Nigerian-American professor Awam Amkpa of New York University, the film has already received critical acclaim during its international screenings. Since its initial debut in Lagos on July 12 to commemorate Soyinka’s 90th birthday, the production has travelled to prestigious venues including the Africa Centre in London and the Labone Dialogues at New York University’s Accra campus.
It returned home on October 5 as part of the Quramo Festival of Words (QFest). It had then gone abroad, featuring in October at the ‘Streamfest’ segment of the Labone Dialogues of the New York University in Accra, Ghana. It returned to London later October to feature at the Film Africa Festival (FAF), with an educational shot at the University of East Anglia, Norwich; and at the Streamfest of the ‘Labone Dialogues’ (October 11, New York University, NYU Accra).
Though yet to be formally released to the public cinema circuits or online streaming platforms, the film has been garnering volumes of critical acclaims, and in the review gaze of such top-notch global cinematic gatherings as the Berlinale in Germany, Carthage in Algeria, Jo’Burg Film Festival, SA; African Film Festival, New York, US, and FESPACO in Burkina Faso, among others.
According to sources close to the production, several major global streaming platforms and international distribution channels are currently reviewing the film. However, the Foundation for the Promotion of Documentary Films in Africa (FPDFA) has indicated that public release through commercial theatres and streaming services will come only after completing its strategic festival and educational circuit run.
The film’s narrative delves deep into Soyinka’s psychological journey during his incarceration. “It’s a story of mental resilience,” said a festival programmer who requested anonymity due to the pending festival screening. “The film shows how Soyinka preserved his sanity by retreating into his mind, sometimes teetering on the edge of madness, while managing to document his experience through smuggled paper and pencil.”