Film about Wole Soyinka ‘travels’ around the world

After a successful participation in the QFest 2024 Quramo Festival in Lagos, Nigeria, “The man died”, the feature film inspired by the prison memories of Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, continues its run on festival circuits around the world.

Although it has not yet been formally released theatrically or on streaming platforms, the film, written by UK screenwriter Bode Asiyanbi, directed by Abu Dhabi, UAE-based Awam Amkpa and produced by Lagos-based Femi Odugbemi, for Zuri24 Media, it launched enjoying tours at major theaters including the Africa Center in London in July.

“The man died,” is the story of Wole Soyinka’s 27-month imprisonment by the Nigerian government in 1967, at the height of the civil war.

He was famously seeking a truce between Biafra and the federal government to allow time for a negotiated settlement of the conflict.

It is fundamentally a personal account. Essentially, the subject found refuge from the brutality inflicted on him, withdrawing and living inside his own mind.

“The man died”It is a powerful story of resistance, courage and unyielding human spirit. Through solitary confinement, torture, and deprivation, Soyinka’s determination to fight tyranny and injustice only grows stronger.

Intertwined with flashbacks to his former life as a writer and activist, the film reveals the deep inner strength and unbreakable spirit that drive Soyinka’s resistance.

As he documents his experiences on scraps of paper smuggled out of his cell, his writings become a beacon of hope and a call to action for others living under oppression.

“The man died”It is not just a personal story, but a universal testimony to the enduring power of truth and the need to rise up against tyranny. It’s a poignant reminder that in the face of oppression, silence is not an option and the human spirit can never truly be extinguished.

Soyinka was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986. Born in Abeokuta, Nigeria, in 1934, he is an author, playwright, poet and political activist whose prolific body of work includes “The Interpreters,” his debut novel published in 1965, and “Death and the King’s Knight”, a play first performed in 1976.

The October 5 screening, to a full house at the grand ballroom of the Eko Hotel Lagos, was the third since July 12, when the film had a “special premiere” at the Alliance Française, Michael Adenuga Center in Ikoyi to symbolically mark the 90th anniversary of the Nobel Prize.

Before reaching the global circuits, however, “The man died,” which stars a galaxy of notable names from the Nigerian film industry, is being considered for special screenings at educational institutions in Florence, Italy, Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, Johannesburg, South Africa, as well as institutions in the Ivy League – New York University, Harvard University, University of Oxford and Ithaca College.

The director, Awam Amkpa, is a Nigerian-American professor of drama, film, and social and cultural analysis at New York University in New York and Abu Dhabi.

The producer, Femi Odugbemi, is an accomplished storyteller, content producer, filmmaker and media scholar.