March 18, 2022

The Draper’s Hall of the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan has always proven to be a great atmosphere for watching and analysing films. For one thing, it is home of the Thursday Film Series Club, a small club of film enthusiasts, critics, researchers, writers and filmmakers who come together on Thursdays to watch and talk about films. It was therefore no surprise that it enjoyed a full house eager to watch and engage with the offerings of the Filmrats Annual Mischief. After the screening of Smile, the film’s director, Precious Rashidi mentioned that his primary motivation for the movie was to show the effects that the titular facial expression, a smile, can have on the human psyche. When asked if there was a deeper message than the obvious, he noted that he himself was still in the process of exploring the movie to discover if there could be any deeper themes and motifs. The film was the first to be screened at the Festival. Smile uses the power of expressions to reveal the workings of the human mind and how the state of the human mind has an effect on human behaviour. The film’s lead, Ejiro Asagba, also shares her experiences being in the film. The most noteworthy experience for her was the lack of clarity that the film itself presented, and it was that lack of clarity that enabled her to bring the character to life in a manner that made the film so well admired. For the second film, Songs of Ubong by Adenrele Owen Olowu, there was more clarity but the fun fact is that it was shot entirely in the Ibadan home of veteran Nollywood actor, Wale Ojo. During the Q and A, Leye Komolafe said the film was a presentation of one the several monologues that go through his head at a particular time. Songs of Ubong was an attempt to borne out of a fascination with the relationship between domestic workers and their bibles, he therefore imagines a simple gardener who develops a relationship with songs of Solomon through constant reading. What follows in an expression of that experience in his pining towards his employer’s wife? To him the constant movement between Ubong speaking the flowing poetics when the spirit of poetry comes on him and reverting back to his uneducated pidgin when he returns to himself is an illustration of the complexities of the human condition, and the creative possibilities that are often overlooked in normal human interaction, but could be great for filmmaking. Eyimofe, the globally acclaimed feature by the Esiri brothers, was the final film of the day. The film, a depiction of the struggle of the lower class, which is not often depicted on film because it is too realistically surreal for most people and does not provide the escapist fantasy that most people crave film for. However, members of the audience who are used to films like that (given that it is the kind of film that they see in the TFS meetings) enjoyed it and certainly had a lot of comments on its characterization and artistic direction. Adebayo Adegbite

Songs of Ubong directed by Adenrele Owen Olowu, was made over the course of an evening in the house of veteran actor, Wale Ojo. The process fits in beautifully into the theme of the festival, ‘Less is More’, The film is  a 12-minute-long visual poem shot in a dazzling monochrome. The 4:3 aspect ratio is not only effective during the extreme close-ups and inserts, but also proves to be efficient during the wide shots as well. The director’s philosophy is that film is all about the visual art representation, and this is evident from the opening shots which appear like a collection of moving postcards set to music, drawing the attention of the audience to the serene setting. The vegetation appears lush even in black-and white, and the sound of the wind whistling through the leaves is a sweet lullaby. A woman (Rhoda Morakinyo) is sitting in a house, cross-legged, reading a book in silence while a gardener (Wale Ojo) stands in the yard. He seems on edge and deep in thought, eyes turned skyward, waiting for something to happen; anything. He storms off all of sudden to another part of the house as if he’s been hit with a great epiphany. Songs of Ubong is described as a poetic demonstration of the Songs of Solomon, a collection of poems in the Bible between a young woman and her lover, thought to be King Solomon. Here, Wale Ojo’s Ubong seems to be in love with the madam of the house, a love that has consumed him so much that he regularly stops mid-work to serenade her with words culled directly from the Songs of Songs. His professions of love are always cut short though by the madam who never fails to send jolts of reality his way— everything from a confused stare to “Ubong, what are you doing,” to a searing slap followed immediately by one command: wake up! The director splices these scenes with passages from poems such as The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes and they tell their own story. It is up to the audience to decide if the madam has similar feelings for her gardener. Praise needs to be accorded here to Wale Ojo who switches effortlessly between the bold sweet-tongued lovestruck man and the gardener, Ubong, timid and seemingly uncomfortable in his own skin. “My beloved is to me a bag of myrrh that lies between my breasts/ My beloved is to me as a cluster of henna blossoms in the vineyards of En Gedi,” he recites about halfway through and the screen almost lights on fire. Poetry is primarily aural and his rendition of the verses is music to the ears. The cinematography and sound design work in tandem to first create and then douse the audience in the romantic atmosphere of the film. Olowu’s camera is always on the move, either zooming into objects and faces or backing away from them; its gaze seems to wander but there is a deliberateness to the way the film is put together. Songs of Ubong for all its sense of romantic realism does not have an inauthentic bone in its body. Artistically, it occupies that nebulous space at the intersection of theatre, avant-garde cinema, fantasy and dreams. Osamudiamen Joseph

Catch up with the highlights of day one at TAFM and read what we think about the films that screened. The immediate desire while covering a festival is to try to identify a thread connecting all the movies. It’s a critic’s fetish; a reflexive desire to unearth something hidden beyond the surface, even if the filmmakers are unaware of such consistencies.   But wouldn’t that be an unfair attempt to box art into definitions? Wouldn’t that go against the very statement the Annual Film Mischief is trying to make? That cinema transcends labels like budget, genre and theme? Isn’t all that matters the original artistic thought and the angle of presentation? With 24 films stacked in the slate of selections, the maiden edition of the festival made an assured start. The first day offered a rather rangy palette of statements, drawing from themes peculiar to the wishful and romantic, poetic possession and a cold, hard look at the mostly grim Nigerian condition. What about Smile? Smile by festival debutant, Precious Rashidi, employed mystery and the inner contemplations of the mind to unravel passion, depression and the soul’s longing for affection. Its narrative is centered around a girl, alive to passion but broken by depression, who, with slow diligence, sketches a vivid image of a lover she only admired with a wistful smile. Largely experimental, the film uses landscapes, symbolisms to considerable effect to communicate its intentions. In a Q&A session after viewing, Rashidi admits to not having any intention while making the film. He was simply inspired by the unexpected appearance of a smiling face and the power it wields on mental health. What about Songs of Ubong? Songs of Ubong by Owen Olowu attempts a rather daring take on the romantic allegories of the biblical book Songs of Solomon. Shot in black and white, the film glamorizes poetry, in a fine performance by the consistently enigmatic Wale Ojo, who plays a hopeless gardener possessed by the power of poetry as he expresses desire for his employer’s wife. Aided by a sincere artistic direction, the slow dancing of the camera and, of course, the brilliant source material from which the film was adapted, Songs of Ubong pulses with romantic extravagance. In a Q and A session live at the festival, Olowu admitted that the film was a spur-in-the-moment idea while on a courtesy visit to Wale Ojo’s home. Conception and execution took just five hours. The textual sentiment of the film points to conventional scripting and rehearsals, but Olowu’s surprising revelation affirms that art can emerge from the most random of scenarios. What about Eyimofe? Eyimofe, the globally acclaimed feature by the Esiri brothers, closed the day and it turned out to be a masterstroke. In the darkness of the hall, viewers were treated to a nuanced depiction of the Nigerian lower class, a category of people commonly disregarded by mainstream Nigerian cinema. These people are the ones face to face with the relentless hardship the country so casually doles out, and it’s within this space the Esiris flourish. The theme of immigration connects the tandem story threads of a grieving handy-man and a hustling hairdresser turned sex worker. Having tasted the harshness of the Nigerian reality, these people want out and are willing to do whatever it takes, even as they continue to resist the country’s attacks on their existence. Nothing is guaranteed in this duel. In fact, failure is the more likely resolution for most. Eyimofe was a rude awakening after the more romantic offerings from earlier. I could tell from the deafening silence in the hall. Nigerians, most of them young and dreamy, saw life as they know it and it scared them. Isaac O. Ayodeji David Osaireme