Omoni Oboli gives a stellar performance as an actress in her own soon-to-be-released movie. In this interview with Assistant Life Editor, TERH AGBEDEH, she talks about her movie, Being Mrs. Elliot, her love for Majid Michel and a lot more…
You said you would use the money that came with the Best of Nollywood (BON) award you won to do your movie; is that what you are working on now?
(Laughter) Well, I didn’t end up using that money. But yes, I am working on my movie, which is about to be released.
What is it titled?
Being Mrs. Elliot.
Is that the same script?
It is possible; it has been many years since I wrote it and I’ve been working on the production for almost four years. Finally, it’s about to be released. We’ve actually had the world premiere in France at the Nollywood Week in Paris on June 4 or 5. My movie was the opening movie.
How did that go?
It was fantastic. The French audience was absolutely in love with it.
How was the audience carried along?
It was subtitled in French. The festival director thought it was a great way to start the festival, set a good mood. The festival started in high spirits after the movie. It is always important to use a movie that can put people in high spirits to start a festival because that sets the tone and pace of the festival. Everyone fell in love with it. They had a great laugh. A lot of people (in the audience) had never seen an African movie and they were very impressed with it.
Where do you go from here; will you still act?
I still act; nothing has changed.
When will the film premiere in Nigeria?
It’s going to be in the cinemas in September, and the premiere will most likely be the last week in August. But we’ve not set a date yet.
These days, when one mentions premiere date, against the backdrop of what happened with Half of a Yellow Sun, one wonders if…
We are fine.
That means the Censors’ Board has given you a clean bill of health.
We are fine; there’s nothing controversial about our film.
The last Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) held without you, and although your son was nominated, he did not win. How do you feel about that?
I didn’t have any nominations, so I was busy with my movie. There was just no way I could make it.
You have done ‘Render to Caesar’ with a cast that is not all Nigerian, and you have done movies with an all-Nigerian cast. What was different on the set?
I have done movies with a cast that is not all Nigerian, even outside the country, and I guess the only thing I can say about that is that our people are our people and we understand the way we work better; so there are certain things that someone coming from outside the country might not understand or feel obliged to take that our people will understand and take, because we all know all the challenges that we face. We have all worked together for a long time, even as actors. We understand the challenges that producers and film-makers face in Nigeria; so we are ready to go extra mile because we understand how it works here. So, I think that is the major difference.
On ‘Bent Arrows’, you had to go back to the studio to redo the sound, as the sound was very bad. So where did you shoot this movie?
Lagos, Ekiti and Asaba.
Was the shoot metropolitan or in the hinterland?
Metropolitan.
Perhaps rather than give money to individuals, government could put up film villages
Even if government builds a film village, it’s not going to be free to me as a film-maker to use. It’s a fantastic idea as long as it’s not going to cost an arm and a leg to hire the film village for your movie. We need to keep our budget low, so there is no way we can pay a lot for any film village. If government is building it and they are going to make it affordable for us, then that is fantastic.
Is Being Mrs. Elliot a big or small budget film?
By Nigerian standard, it’s a big budget film; but, of course, by the global standard, it is a tiny budget film.
You must be in it, but who else is?
I am in it, Majid Michel, AY the comedian, Lepacious Bose, Uru Eke, Seun Akindele, Sylvia Oluchi, Chika Chukwu, Bishop Ime Umoh and a host of others.
Who is the director?
I directed; it’s my directorial debut and produced.
And did the script?
Yeah, but the script was done years ago.
You have premiered this film and are still working on it.
We premiered it, but you know how movies go. Until you actually release it, everyday you think I can do a little thing to make it better. So I still find myself in the studio every other day. There is always something you can do to make it better.
Looking back, would you say the industry you call your own has become better or worse?
We definitely have moved for the better. There are so many really good movies today. A long time ago, we didn’t have many good movies. Quality has improved; a lot of people have very good equipment and people are going to film school, getting knowledge, technical knowhow. For my movie, we did original music for it and the guy who did it, some guy called Michael, did a great job of it. I didn’t think we had people who could actually score a movie from start to finish. But we have that. My editor, Steve Shodiya, is really good. He was with us on set; we (he, the director of photography and I) all had to be sure what we were doing. I played two roles in the film, and that is quite technical.
You have paired with Majid Michel in a couple of movies and he is in this one. Was it you that did the casting?
I did the casting.
He is probably one of your best actors?
I think Majid is a phenomenal actor and he is someone who has grown over the years, and we’ve all watched him grow. He is an actor who understands acting; he is very easy to work with. He is a great guy on set. He literally has no stress; he is friends with everyone – the cast and crew – and that is how I am on set. I don’t discriminate; everyone is someone. Everyone is there to make the whole machinery work. If one person is not there, something will go wrong. So everyone is as important as the next person. That is how Majid works, and it’s really easy for me to work with him. He is such a good actor. In my opinion, I think he put up one of his best performances in Being Mrs. Elliot because his character was very subtle; a calm person. You know Majid is naturally feisty. In my opinion as an actor, it’s easier to play feisty roles than to play roles that are understated, subtle and calm. For someone who is naturally feisty like Majid to be able to calm down and play a role that is subtle is a big deal; so I think he did a great job with this film, and I really hope he will win many awards.