City Mall was full to the brim on Tuesday,
November 12, when multiple award-
winning movie Director, Obi Emelonye
unveiled his latest work, Onye Ozi (The
Messenger) to the press. It is his first
comic Igbo language film.
The movie could be aptly described as
another attempt to reawaken the Igbo
language genre. The movie has men and
women with painted bodies and fabric
wrapped across their waists and chests,
dictating the unique style the filmmaker
has put into the work.
The Director revealed how it was possible
for the white men he featured in the
movie to learn how to speak the Igbo
language. "It took a lot of time for us to
introduce our language to them and to
get a good result at the end. My son, who
played Osita, was also taught the
language within a short period of time, to
be able to fit into the role. I discovered
that I may want to speak to my son in a
public place in a language that I do not
want people to understand what we are
communicating," he stated.
Asked why he decided to use just one A-
list star, Emelonye explained; "the movie
is actually a small project that along the
line became a big one. I did Mirror Boy
and Last Flight to Abuja and used A-
listers. But it will be fulfilling for me, for
someone to look back tomorrow and say I
got known through Obi Emelonye's movie
Onye Ozi.
"Ngozi Igwebike, the lady who played the
lead role is someone I didn't know from
anywhere. She came for the audition and
got the role, likewise all the other people
including the whites," he added.
The movie was first screened on October
18, 2013 at The Lighthouse in London.
And according to reports, it was awash
with glamour, fun, Nollywood stars and
huge laughs as Okey Bakassi worked his
on-screen magic and showed once again
why he is one of Nigeria's biggest comics.
With the cinema and online premiere
happening simultaneously, this appears a
good business for the Director who is
working in partnership with Iroko TV,
Ibaka TV and Afrinolly, three leading
Nollywood online/mobile film
distributors.
Emelonye also stated that, over 60
countries were able to take part in the
online premiere with surprisingly Saudi
Arabia proving to be the 2nd most
popular country for the online premiere
after the United Kingdom. As Onye Ozi
continues to rack up online sales since the
premiere, many are saying this is the
future for Nollywood and international
world cinema.
Subtitled in English, the psychological
comedy thriller tells the story of an
immigrant fresh into London with high
expectations and a two-year plan to
return to Nigeria a rich man. He gets
caught up in an unexpected set of
circumstances that changes his life
forever. The film stars British lawyer
turned actor Stephen Moriaty and
Da'Kachy Ob-Emelonye, the first son of
the director.
Onye Ozi is produced by emerging UK
based film producer Emmanuella Ngozi
Ideh alongside Obi Emelonye on behalf of
The Nollywood Factory with support from
Nollywood Movies, M-Net Africa and
Screen Nation Pictures.
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