Over the weekend, Nigerian-South African-Canadian writer and director Celestina Aleobua, in partnership with Women’s Film Club and Wunika Mukan Gallery, held a retrospective screening of three of her short films: The People of Sand, Second Wind, and Tina, When Will You Marry? The public but intimate screening had filmmakers, the filmmakers’ friends and family, and Nigerian film enthusiasts in attendance. Although I wasn’t in attendance, glancing and watching through the pictures and videos graciously shared on social media made me reflect about the need for alternative screening spaces and film clubs for the Nigerian indie filmmaker. There is an unmissable excitement and compelling sense of community that these images create. And in the Nigerian film space heavily monopolised by mainstream filmmakers, this screening and similar spaces are important in providing indie filmmakers and audiences an opportunity to share art and have deep and nuanced conversations.
The People of Sand is Aleobua’s filmmaking debut. The short film, made in 2018 with major creative and technical assistance from her family members(father, mother, and siblings), is a deeply conceptual, experimental and stylised film. It follows the story of Maya(played by the filmmaker) as she explores what lies outside the walls of her village. It’s an insight into Maya’s Odysseus, as a young warrior exposes herself and her home to covetous eyes. On the surface, it’s a trivial story of Maya, but, on a more cultural and political level, it’s the story of the preservation of ancestral knowledge, African art and treasure, climate change and colonialism. The ability of the cinematography and sound design to convey and reinforce these themes is striking. The second film of the night is Celestina’s second film, Second Wind, which she co-directed with Sochima Nwakaeze. The film adopts a similar filmmaking process as The People of Sand. She triples as writer, director, and actor. Second Wind follows the stormy relationship between a photographer (Juzar Dean) and a model (Celestina.) Their definition of friendship and sexual intimacy will take a drastic turn as they take a road trip down a country road. The film, graciously filled with close-up shots, calls to focus the importance ascribed to memory: what do we remember, who remembers what, and who forgets what? The last film is the filmmaker’s most recent project, Tina, When Will You Marry? a documentary short that addresses the societal pressure and questions that Nigerian and African women are made to bear and answer to as they get older. The documentary explores the stories of three Nigerian-Canadian women (Yemi Fusigboye, an accountant, Eniola Hu, Fashion and Textile Designer, and Titilola Oridota, management Consultant and Mentor), who rather than cower to these patriarchal and societal dogmas, have decided what their life should be.
The documentary has screened at both local and international festivals while clinching awards in the process. In 2024, it was the Winner of Best Documentary at the Eye2Eye International Film Festival – Cobourg, Canada and Winner of Best Short Documentary at The Annual Film Mischief – Lagos, Nigeria. Festival screening includes Canadian Film Fest – Toronto, Canada, Classics In The Park – Accra, Ghana, African International Film Festival (AFRIFF), Cinema Beento – Accra, Ghana, Beach House Short Film Festival, Silicon Valley African Film Festival, Toronto Black Film Festival, Halifax Black Film Festival, Ottawa Black Film Festival, Vancouver International Black Film Festival Vancouver and others.
What Tina, When Will You Marry? skillfully demonstrates, through the lives of its subjects, is how individual women could ask and make confrontational cultural questions and statements with their personal lives and choices. By exploring the lives of the three women, the documentary guides our understanding of present day cultural practices (marriage, name change and dating) and strongly makes possible projection into the future of human history and socio-cultural practices. The screening was swiftly followed by a discussion section for The Women’s Film Club community members.
The Women’s Film Club was started in 2014 by Wunika Mukan. When it started, Wunika was searching for a community and making like-minded friends. Though the name looks exclusionary, it wasn’t a women-only space as it attracted men too. However, its focus was on screening films by female filmmakers. Over the years, that focus has shifted a little to screening local, continental, and diaspora films with a focus on the women characters. Films are screened and discussions are held around the roles, challenges, and struggles of the female character as it reflects the individual struggle of community members. In Wunika’s words, “The Women’s Film Club is a space to screen independent filmmakers’ films that you won’t normally see in the theaters or anywhere else. I wish we were more consistent. It was supposed to be a monthly screening exercise, but having started a gallery that’s time-consuming has lessened the consistency.”
When I asked what the retrospective screening meant to Celestina and its importance, she mentioned how having grown up as a Nigerian in South Africa, she has wondered how her life would have turned out had she grown up in Nigeria. Although she doesn’t regret her upbringing as it has afforded her an invaluable worldview, she realizes that there are many stories she wants to tell with the background of her cultural heritage that she has limited knowledge of. This has, over the years, made her conscious decision to start visiting Nigeria regularly to immerse herself in the vibrant film space as well as the “mundane everydayness of Lagos streets.” Thus, for the screening, “I wanted to host this retrospective as an introduction of myself as a storyteller to my home, to my people, and see what my unique voice can contribute to the industry here,” she says.
Speaking about the screening experience, she mentions how wholesome it was. “As soon as I removed my shoes at the door and felt the plush carpet beneath my feet, I felt at home and that I was amongst my people,’” she mentions. In this relaxed mood and atmosphere, her concern about the reception and understanding of her work (especially the experimental project, The People of Sand) fizzled out. The screening of the films, to accommodate latecomers, happened twice. With half the room staying back to rewatch the film, she felt happy and fulfilled. “This was the most special part of the night for me, and it’ll be a night I will always remember,” she recounts.
Speaking about Celestina’s retrospective screening, Wunika mentioned recently meeting the filmmaker and sharing anecdotes. Celestina mentions being a filmmaker seeking to connect with a community for future collaboration and partnership, and she mentioned the Women’s Film Club. Celestina’s quest for a community interested her as one of the goals of the club is to create that community. “I love the subject matters she addressed in her films and I thought they are some of what the community members are going through or learning about themselves and family. A lot of us are learning what it means to be a contemporary African and her films touched on these subject matters. Ultimately, the idea is to have more of these screenings that link filmmakers, artists and art enthusiasts together and to also create a space where viewers can grow,” she mentions.
Nigerian writer, director and producer, Kaelo Iyizoba(credited with Boy Meets Girl and Mr. Bold) described the screening as warm and cozy. “It was nice to be in a community with other filmmakers and film lovers. Asides from a few technical glitches with the projector, it was a lovely experience,” he shares. Another attendee, Kanyin Eros, one of Nigeria’s emerging actors, described the experience as nice and very intimate. “There was food and drinks. And, what I loved about the film was how narratively out-of-the-box they are. The three films were all female-led.”
Does Iyizoba consider the club/space as an alternative screening space for Nigerian indie filmmakers, he replied in the affirmative. “I think it is, especially for emerging filmmakers. I think it is really important to have intimate spaces where we can have conversations with our films and the audience and receive valuable feedback that can make us better artists.” Eros agreed with Kaelo on the club being an alternative space for Nigerian indie filmmakers. “I do consider it as an alternative space. It was a space to network and connect with people. I consider it as an avenue to decrease waiting time for festival acceptance or mainstream distribution.”
Though starting a gallery, Wunika Mukan Gallery, has lessened the consistency of the film club screening, Wunika is still convinced of its importance to the Nigerian indie community. Excitement of local filmmakers whose films screened at the club informs her of the relevance of the space. As she will tell me, “Whenever we screen these films, the encouraging feedback we get from filmmakers and audiences is to host more screenings. It makes us realize that people are yearning for deep art they can connect to.” She finds independent films the most interesting in comparison to mainstream films. “Most of the time these films are hard to find and know about. And when you find and watch them, you learn a lot about the subject matter and yourself. There is a lot of time and care put into making them,” she shares.
Celestina expands further on this by saying that with the current uncertainty in the Nigerian film industry, it’s important to have spaces where there are low stakes, we forget about commercialisation, and the audience can just connect the art with the artist. “Sharing art is so essential to the human experience, and I think it is fantastic when filmmakers get to show their films on any level, regardless of experience, and get that feedback from the audience. I value this space and hope to contribute by hosting more screenings and sharing not only my work, but the work of other filmmakers I love that needs to be amplified,”
Celestina is currently developing Jaded, a TV series that gives a modern-day look into the lives of first-generation Nigerian American women.
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