“Finding Nina” is a Feeble Critique of Stereotypical Narratives

In Nigeria and mainstream media, Lagos is the prized state. The supposed economical and industrial development in the state has given it a heaven-like identity, compelling non-Lagosians to troop into the state. The uneven economic and infrastructural development across the country has enforced a state of constant migration on non-Lagosians, resulting in congestion and rationing of frugally available state resources and social amenities. Non-Lagos-based creative Nigerians are part of the Nigerians compelled to make this geographical move and this has benefited the state’s image. In mainstream media, there’s an extensive media library for those seeking to understand Lagos and Lagosians. There are films, songs, pictures, paintings and other creative expressions that carry the nuance of what it means to be a Lagosian or stay in it. This multiple engagement has framed the city in varying light. On the other hand, other Nigerian states don’t enjoy this volatile creative coverage and communion, resulting in the single identity ascribed to them and their occupants. In this light, the northern part of the country is singularly framed as the domain of poverty, illiteracy, insecurity and other crises. To correct this, Famous Odion Iraoya’s Finding Nina was made. 

Directed by Iraoya, Finding Nina poises itself as a film hoping to capture and contest the stereotypical and often one-sided identity attached to the North and Northerners. In doing this, the script written by Henry Ibazebo, Julius Morno, Awaita Atebor and Iraoya, tasks JB (Abdulazeem M Ibrahim), a street photographer and Raiyah (Tomi OJo), a gallery owner with this responsibility. JB has migrated to Lagos following a tragic riot that unsettled his family and uprooted his life in the North.  Despite JB’s articulated apathy, he, like all patriotic people, still holds an emotional connection to his origin. This plays out in his critique of fellow photographers and Raiyah who keep promoting the single image of the North as a place brimming with poverty. Unmindful of his constant feeble critique, the one-dimensional narrative about the North keeps thriving. To challenge this single narrative, JB, urged by Raiyah, decides to journey to take pictures that frame the North in a different light. This cultural motivation aside, JB is also hoping to connect with his childhood love interest, Nina (Ijapari Ben-Hirki). Sadly, this is where the film loses its narrative focus and intention. 

The filmmakers of Finding Nina see art and cinema as an entertainment and perception-shifting tool.  They understand that much as art and cinema can propagate harmful narrative, it can counter such narrative too. But, much like JB, the film suffers from being unsure of what to correct and what artistic angle to approach it from. That cultural and artistic consciousness to interrogate subjects beyond cliche thinking and interrogation is missing here. There are no mind-shifting or ideology-changing dialogues, monologues or conversations. The film is a repository of bland arguments. In one  scene, JB criticizes Raiyah’s conscious decision to keep spotlighting art that perpetuates the North in a single image. It’s a perfect moment to oppose the place of culture and media custodians in perpetuating a single and often dangerous narrative that serves  their capitalist goals. But, rather than offer a cement-strong argument, JB’s babble reveals the script’s lack of intellectual and political ability to interrogate the subject with nuanced criticism. 

As Teju Cole said, “Writing as writing. Writing as rioting. Writing as righting. On the best days, all three.” Here, the film doesn’t push beyond the writing phase. When it attempts to riot and protest the narrow identity given to the North and Northerners, it presents shallow arguments. For all his supposedly patriotic deeds, JB’s attempt at protesting this single identity isn’t done well. It reeks of just a disgruntled response not couched in well-thought-out and articulated arguments. It doesn’t help that the script makes the ill-advised choice of making JB trail off from his patriotic responsibility by introducing Nina. The film’s inability to move past the rioting stage makes it impossible to right anything. Finding Nina doesn’t present any convincing artistic, cultural, humanist, emotional nor political arguments that should inspire a psychological shift in perception. Artistically, the film doesn’t engage with the North in its looming and much-recognized beauty. Culturally, we rarely see the North as a living space brimming with its unique cultural strengths and heritage. The failure to do the preceding hinders one from emotional connection with the characters JB interacts with including Abdul (Paul Sambo). 

The history of world and Nigerian cinema is replete with films that have captured the rhythm and fascination of different cities. In Hollywood, films like The Dark Knight, Before Sunrise, In Bruges, Do the Right Thing and others provide immersive exploration of the realities of the cityscape the films are set in. The cities in these films don’t just act as passive picturesque landscapes, they influence artistic choices (as in The Dark Knight) and motivate characters to tour round historical locations(as in Before Sunrise and In Bruges.) The cities are willing accomplices in the unfolding narrative and these films treat them with deserving respect.  In Nigeria, there’s Ema Edosio-Deleen’s Kasala! and When Nigeria Happens, Arie and Chuko Esiri’s Eyimofe and Korede Azzez’s With Difficulty Comes Ease. In Azzez’s film, Zainab is conscious of the judgmental stares that accompany a northern woman seen in proximity of  a man who isn’t her husband or his relation. The Esiri brothers and Edosio-Deleen’s films are vivid in its portrayal of the stark economic and financial divide that Nigerian films don’t often capture. In a non-condescending manner, these films show poverty and how Lagosians respond to it in survival-incline or innovative ways. Finding Nina is bereft of these visual images and strong characters. The opportunity to frame the North as a calm character awaiting interaction is lost in the film’s ill-advised choice of finding Nina. 

Shot by Daanong Dwain Gyang, the cinematography tries to capture the soul of the North but it doesn’t move beyond scenic beauty and landscape. There exists an opportunity for a documentary-esque shooting which the cinematography misses out from. JB is returning to the North decades after leaving, Gyang’s cinematography could have taken a more curious and somewhat nosy approach rather than the domineering and knowledgeable approach it took. The inquisitive approach would have presented a much more emotionally immersive experience for viewers as they’re active participants in JB’s experience. Iraoya’s production design occasionally conveys the cultural beauty of the North.  The use of lanterns, and colorful fabrics helps accentuate this. But, the cinematography and writing fail  to help the production design. 

Uneven media coverage and interrogation breeds a single narrative. It strips the ability of  people to have multidimensional opinions and beneficial conversations. It flattens the humanity of a specific group to a single identity. As Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie said in The Danger of a Single Story, “Power is the ability not just to tell the story of another person, but to make it the definitive story of that person.” Iraoya’s Finding Nina attempts to challenge this “definitive story” danger but its unsteady narrative hinders it. To conclude with another of Adichie’s words, “Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign, but stories can also be used to empower and to humanize.”