The Hype: Mind Game

So, although Van Vicker from Ghana is the hottest thing in Nollywood at the moment, no movie of his has ever made it to this blog, mostly because I am not enamored of his acting, producing or directing (yes, he does the last two!!) And I doubt that any movie of his that I have ever seen will - well there is one exception (Reloaded) but that contained a stellar cast. However, I have chosen to "tentatively" plug this movie, mostly because I am totally in love with the leading lady - the queen herself Omotola! In addition, I am curious as to what a Ghanaian, Nigerian, Haitian combo will look like.

The movie is Mind Game, directed by Nigerian director, John Uche.

Story:

In this heart racing, conflict stricken, suspense cut drama, Betty (Omotola Jalade Ekeinde) gets entangled in her worst nightmare and all hell breaks loose one holy afternoon when she returns home from work unexpectedly to find her husband Richard (Van Vicker) in a compromising position with a friend of his in their study only four months after their wedding, during which he deliberately avoids consummating their marriage...
Shocked beyond comprehension, she is torn between divorcing him, and staying in the marriage...

Trailer:


The movie stars Nigeria's sweetheart Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, Ghanaian heartthrob VanVicker, and Haitian movie stars Reginald Lubin and Carlin Kenol.

Fun trivia: The Haitian movie industry is called Bellywood!

Hope its as good as it looks.

Will review it once it comes out.

Ciao.

The hype: I sing of a well

African film is undergoing a renaissance indeed. Really good things are happening. Last time we were talking about a new South African movie. This time, we are travelling to Ghana.

New director Leila Djansi is creating an ambitious trilogy named Legion of Slaves. The first part of the series, titled I sing of a well was premiered in Ghana late in October. Hopefully, we will see a dvd soon.

Summary
the story is set in the ancient Ghana empire in the days of Mansa Musa, it tells of Soraya and Dume, two young lovers threatened by the arrogant Prince Wenambe who is basking in his new found throne and alliance with Mansa Musa, but is Mansa Musa really his friend or a slave raider himself in disguise and what happened to Dume? and why did Soraya marry Prince Wenambe?

Trailer:


Even more exciting? Jimmy Jean Louis of "Heroes" fame is going to narrate the first installment of the movie.

More info on the website and facebook page.

Early reviews are pretty encouraging.

It looks really good. I hope it delivers.

Will happily review it when I get my hands on it.

Ciao.

White Wedding

So I just came across this new South African movie, which has also been submitted for oscar consideration. There is no guarantee that it will be one of the top five movies considered for the foreign language Oscar. However, if it makes it, there may be hope for an American release, like there were for Tsotsi and Yesterday. After having searched high and low for for South African movies in the US, I think somebody has to create an outlet to start selling those films outside of SA. There is a burgeoning market for African film, and it they don't meet it, they may start to get the Nigerian treatment. Anyways, on to the hype before I get sidetracked:



White wedding is a dramatic comedy that explores South Africa's favorite issue - racial relations, while also dealing with love, infidelity, romance among other themes.

Here's a trailer for your viewing pleasure:



The blurb on the website reads:

The loyal, committed and very decent Elvis (Kenneth Nkosi) leaves Johannesburg on Tuesday en route to pick up his best friend and best man Tumi (Rapulana Seiphemo) in Durban. The two will then journey on to Cape Town to begin rehearsals for Elvis’s wedding to the beautiful Ayanda (Zandile Msutwana) at an upmarket hotel in glamorous palm-fringed Camps Bay under the cloak of Table Mountain.

But things don’t go according to plan. Tumi, a serial flirt, has a spat with his girlfriend that leads to his car being rendered unusable; eventually the duo get on their way but Tumi’s short-cuts don’t end up making up for lost time.

As Tumi and Elvis struggle to find their way through the Eastern Cape they are picked up by Rose (Jodie Whittaker), a young English doctor who fled the altar after discovering her fiancée was serially unfaithful to her. Now there’s an unlikely trio on the road, with romantic sparks igniting between the flirtatious Tumi and their spirited British companion. Who knows if they’ll make it on time, whether the wedding will be delayed or cancelled or come perilously close to not even happening if Ayanda ditches dependable Elvis for dashing Tony, the township boy turned flashy entrepreneur.

“White Wedding” is an appealing, feel-good movie about love, commitment, intimacy and friendship and the host of maddening obstacles that can get in the way of a happy ending. Uplifting and at times uproarious this is a movie that affirms the dream that romance can overcome any obstacle.

If you have watched Tsotsi, you will notice that the two male lead actors also played high profile roles in Tsotsi - and did it pretty well I think. So I am looking forward to this one, even if race is a subtext here.

You can see just a little bit of the race issue in this video:


For those who don't understand the issue with the song De La Ray, here is the song and the controversy is explained here. You can read all about the original De La Ray dude as well.


This movie has already been released in SA: in theaters and on dvd, so I guess I have to get someone to get it for me from there. On the other hand, if anyone knows where to get SA movies in the Western hemisphere, please let me know.

I will also be cheering for them as the Oscar nominations come in. If Nollywood is not ready, we might as well show some love to an industry that is doing well.

Enjoy, and let me know if you find a copy anywhere.