- The Milkmaid
The 2020 drama narrates the heart wrenching reality of insurgency in Northern Nigeria. Directed by Desmond Ovbiagele, The Milkmaid follows a milkmaid’s quest to locate her sister after a raid on her village.
Though fictional The Milkmaid’s characters depict the lives of Nigerians displaced by terrorists and religious extremists.
2. Eyimofe (This is my Desire)
The Arie and Chuko Esiri directed film on the migration crisis is another uncoated reality of Nigerians looking to leave home in search of greener pastures.
Set in Lagos, Eyimofe follows a middle-aged electrical engineer and a young hairdresser on a quest for a better life outside the shores of Nigeria.
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3. Collision Course
The 2021 film by Bolanle Austen-Peters is inspired by the tragic EndSARS shooting.
Collision Course addresses diverse themes that point to the rot in the government and the system charged with protecting lives and property. The film’s plot also makes a case for police officers portraying them victims of the system.
4. Glamour Girls (1994)
Nearly three decades later, the original Glamour Girls produced by Kenneth Nnebue is still relevant and reflective of the Nigeria of today.
The two-part drama follows young women who turn to prostitution in a bid to make ends meet. In one of the most popular scenes from the classic, one of the characters, in an iconic monologue, details the disappointment of job hunting in a country that regards women as pleasure symbols.
While in present day Nigeria, women are finally making bold steps and joining the decision making table, a vast majority still succumb to the economic pressure.
5. Voiceless
The Robert Peters directed film explores the troubling situation of insurgency in Northern Nigeria.
The captor and captive centred love story narrates the painful reality of kidnapped young women who are forced to marry and have children for insurgents. Voiceless also shows a glimpse of the rejection these young mothers face from their communities if they ever escape captivity.
6. A Place Called Forward
Umanu Elijah’s A Place Called Forward is themed on environmental hazards. The story centres on the hazardous release of poisonous carbonate waste popularly known as soot in Port Harcourt.
Written by Aboyowa Aby Mene the film follows a victim of soot poisoning as he reminisces on the death of his wife and children.
7. Power of One
Izu Ojukwu’s political thriller, inspired by 2Baba’s shelved controversial protest in 2017 narrates the tyrannical leadership style in Nigeria. The film reflects on the government’s attempt to silence critics
8. Abdul
Samuel Adeoye’s short film Abdul captures illegal immigration and is loosely based on the EndSARS protests.
Written and directed by the Germany-based filmmaker, Abdul follows Abdul (played by Abdul Saliou), a 25-year-old Nigerian who is on the verge of deportation l but finds his life-saver in a prison in Germany.
Faced with tough choices, he must find a way out or risk going back to a country with a crippling economy, and a place where the youths’ lives never mattered – lost in a peaceful protest for a better nation.
9. Joy
Joy is an Austrian movie about Nigerian immigrants forced into prostitution to make ends meet.
The film portrays the shocking lives of women migrants in Europe at the mercy of human and sex trafficking cartels.
10. The Meeting
One of the fascinating themes of Mildred Okwo’s 2012 romantic comedy is the unending bureaucracy in the civil service which gives leeway for bribery and corruption.
Rita Dominic plays the film’s most memorable character as Clara Ikemba, a troublesome receptionist that represents real life gatekeepers in the civil service.