Before Omoni Oboli screened her film, Being Mrs Elliot, at Aso Rock Villa on August 14, it had the world premiere in France at the Nollywood Week in Paris in June where it was the opening movie.
Omoni Oboli
The buzz from the world premiere cannot be compared to the one that came from the private screening at the Presidential Villa that had President Goodluck Jonathan, Vice President Namadi Sambo, among other top government functionaries and Nollywood stakeholders, in attendance.
The Nigerian premiere, which took place at the Silverbird Galleria, on Saturday, August30, Victoria Island, Lagos will be remembered by everyone in the audience.
“I am grateful to all of you for being here,” she declared just before the screening started many minutes after 9pm that night.
She went on to say that it had been a long and tough journey to the screening of the film in Lagos and thanked God for that.
“This story is dear to my heart and I hope that you feel the same way too at the end of this event. I am grateful to all our sponsors without whom I would not have been able to do this. Thanks and I love you all very much,” she said.
Mrs. Oboli, whose husband is co-producer and was there to support her, explained that Being Mrs. Elliot is the story of a successfully married woman torn between two worlds after a life-changing incident and finds out that the best life has to offer are not things but moments.
If the reaction of the audience at the screening is anything to go by, then the 11 nominations at the 2014 Nollywood and African Film Critics’ Awards (NAFCA) is not a fluke. Almost every scene got the audience responding with glee, a telling evidence that everyone should go see this one when it opens to the public on September 5.
In 2010, Omoni won the award for Best Actress (Narrative Feature) at the Los Angeles Movie Awards, and Best Actress at the Harlem International Film Festival. She was nominated for the Best Actress in a Leading Role award at the 2011 Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA). She studied Foreign Languages at the University of Benin (UNIBEN), majoring in French.
The actress came into the industry in 1996 a mere teenager who was in her first year in the university and stayed for a year in the industry. She did about three lead roles in a few months then. But it was not going along fine, so she dropped acting and faced her studies squarely, as she didn’t want to be a dropout.
Omoni then took a 10-year break, got married, and returned to the screen in 2009 with the movie, Entanglement. Having said that acting was her first love and that she would always act, she sold one of her scripts to Emem Isong, which film was directed by Lancelot Imaseun. She featured in The Figurine, which won not just Best Picture at the 2010 AMAA, but also picked up several other awards.
She may not have won an AMAA yet, but it would seem that the time has come for that with not just her performance in this film but also the fine work she put in the directing.
It was a well-attended event with AY (Ayo Makun), who stars in the film, and his wife, as well as Halima Abubakar, Seun Akindele, Daniel K Daniel, Belinda Effah, Sylvya Oluchy, O.C Ukeje and Linda Ejiofor.
Others were Peggy Ovire, Tosyn Bucknor, Susan Peters, Toyin Aihmaku-Johnson, Niyi Johnson, Nnamdi Oboli and movie media executive, Kene Mkparu.
Omoni Oboli Sophie, the second of two girls, was born in the historic city of Benin City, Nigeria, on April 22, 1978. Her primary education was at the Delta Steel Company Primary School 3, Ovwian Aladja. Between 1989 and 1994, she attended the prestigious Delta Steel Company Technical High School (DSC THS). She began her formal movie career in 1996. A gifted writer, with several intriguing screenplays to her credit, she also brings dignity, poise, class, smooth delivery, and extreme professionalism to the varied roles she’s played.
In June 2007, The Rivals, a movie she co-produced with her friend, an acclaimed model, Blessing Effiom, won the coveted prize for Best International Drama at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival. It was the first Nigerian film to be premiered since the festival’s inception in 2003.
This is not the first time Omoni Oboli is raising the bar, and from the look of things, she is going to continue making waves in the Nigerian film industry for a long time to come.