Editi Effiong has revealed some similarities with the lead of his global hit, The Black Book.
Responding to the critics of the style of grief exhibited in the movie, he stated that he shares a connection with the main character, Paul Edima, played by Richard Mofe-Damijo.
Speaking with Chude Jideonwo, the producer and director of the popular project said grief was something familiar to him, having lost two dear people to him in painful ways.
In his words, "I read someone in the comments; one says the grief in the black book was so superficial and people don't grieve like that... No, you do not know grief more than I do. You see, my youngest brother was my first child... I lost him to cancer; it's the worst way to die."
Further revealing his familiarity with grief, Effiong also divulged the painful tragedy of losing his son after a long struggle.
"I just left America, got back to Lagos, and then I got called. My wife is in the hospital, and we were having a child, and I had to answer the question, Who do we save? My child is born 24 months and then he's not going to make it", he shared.
The Black Book tells the ultimate revenge story of a father out to seek vengeance on the unjust killing of his son by an old counterpart from his dark past. The feature highlights the path of grief felt when a person loses a loved one while touching on corruption and other themes.
Moving on, the filmmaker also spoke on the daunting task of trying to sell the film for two years after wrapping up production in 2020 and the several rejections the movie faced before they secured the deal they eventually had. According to him, some of the feedback he got included, "It cannot be an original because there are certain standards it hasn't met".
Upon release, The Black Book quickly became the third-most film on Netflix globally between September 25, 2023, and October 1, 2023, with 11.2 million views and 21.3 million hours recorded. It remained in the top 10 global ranking for English films on the streaming platform for another three weeks after its first rise.
The views are said to spread across 69 countries, including South Korea, the United States of America, the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Kenya, Martinique, Panama, Poland, Romania, Venezuela, and Nigeria. The movie has since broken global records.