James Omokwe and Lilian Olubi’s “Osamede” goes to Cannes Film Market With High Hope

For the uninitiated, The Marché du Film, also known as the Cannes Film Market, which Osamede, directed by James Omokwe and executive produced by Lilian Olubi, was selected for, is described and acknowledged as the world’s largest international conference of film professionals, bringing together more than 15,000 participants from 140 countries each year. Featuring more than 1,200 market screenings each year, Cannes Film Market offers filmmakers, directors, and producers of independent creations an opportunity for global distribution. From the 13th to the 24th of May, when the festival is taking place, Osamede and other films will be screened for sales agents, distributors, producers, and the press. 

Shot on location in Benin City, Osamede is a historical fantasy epic set in two important historical timelines: the 1897 British invasion of the Benin Empire and 1917 Nigeria’s amalgamation. The film stars Ivie Okujaye Egboh, Lexan Aisosa Peters, Tosin Adeyemi, William Benson, Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen, and Alexander Bud. Ahead of the film’s Cannes market screening, I spoke with the director and executive producer to unpack what the Cannes acceptance means for the film’s journey and, by extension, that of the industry. With an opportunity to screen the film in 31 screening rooms whilst also engaging distributors and sales agents, we spoke about the inherent possibility that lies ahead for the film and the film industry when filmmakers are seeking alternative distribution structures. Judging that Oscar-winning films like Anora, Substance, Substance, Flow and others have passed through the film market, it was important to contextualise Osamede’s acceptance into this global film market from a Nigerian and African perspective. 

This interview with Olubi and Omokwe has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Congratulations on getting Osamede into the Cannes Film Market. What does this mean to you as the filmmakers and to the film ultimately? 

James Omokwe: First and foremost, this means a lot more to me and Lilian because the first major viewing of Osamede will be on a global stage. And, importantly for Lilian, just jumping into the deep end of filmmaking, it’s a sort of major first. For me, it’s my third but second film that will be released in my entire career as someone who primarily operates in the TV space. Just coming out of the TV space, it means a lot that the film will not just be screening at a global stage but also amid a global marketplace that will view the film and hopefully take the film to other spaces for distribution. Ultimately, it’s quite amazing, especially considering how I met with Lilian and decided to make the film. It feels surreal. 

Lilian Olubi: We told a significant African story and are excited that we get to share it on a global stage. It’s important to us that we have this opportunity on the Cannes Film Market platform to help launch the story into the world. This, for us,  is significant because of the assured visibility and credibility screening at Cannes Film Market provides. The fact that the film is screening at the Cannes Film Market gives us a natural stamp of credibility as to the film’s quality, which in turn lends opportunity to the scale and breadth of the kinds of people that we hope to meet and interact with in helping us push the film to the world. We feel the film is significant and deserving of international opportunities. 

The film will be screened to over 15,000 distributors and sales agents from 140 countries. What are your expectations from the market? 

Olubi: The exhibition is largely to lend international visibility and secure opportunities for the film. The Cannes Film Market for us as an industry, as I have discussed with James, is about the issues of distribution of Nigerian films and how to strengthen the entire film value chain, and being in the room with global partners who have been doing film on different scales. To be in that space in terms of expectation, it’s to tap as aggressively and proactively as we can, to introduce in our form and we throw something quite distinct by showcasing the quality of our work and hoping to find partners who would see it and help to just spread the word and take it to the places that we have dreamed it would, it would get to. 

Omokwe: As Lilian mentioned already, taking this film to the global stage means global visibility for the film. There are a lot of sales agents, distributors, directors, and producers at the market, and what we want is for distributors and sales agents to clamor for an opportunity to showcase the film in different parts of the world. What we have created is an authentic Nigerian and African story, and it’s for the whole world to see. 

Nigerian films are slowly getting international theatrical distribution deals from foreign distributors. What do you think these deals do to the Nigerian film landscape? 

Omokwe: Lilian made a point in her last response, and I am going to expand on it in my response. When you look at the Nigerian film industry, we are struggling with having our ecosystem and a semblance of a value chain. I feel like, with what has happened with Amazon Prime and Netflix, what films like Akinola Lewis’ Our Father’s Shadow, C.J “Fiery Obasi’s Mami Wata, Babatunde Apalowo’s All the Colours of the World are Between Black and White and others, is telling us and the world is that there are markets outside Nigeria and the continent. You made a point that there’s a slow burn in terms of acceptance, but the point is that the acceptance is there. And when Osamede does the same thing, what we are telling people is that distribution goes beyond the shores of Nigeria, Netflix, and Prime. 

What we are also showing is the opportunity for distribution not just to filmmakers but to investors who need to make back their money. In going to these international film markets and getting international distribution deals, we are increasing the visibility, expanding the reach, and acceptability of our films. Thus, if we have more foreign cinemas and foreign distributors interested in our films, what we are doing is creating more connections and shaking more hands that can, in turn, lead to the production of more films that can be further distributed to more international audiences. With this, Nollywood as a whole can know that there are more distribution models beyond YouTube, Prime, and Netflix. 

There are a couple of international film markets but almost none in Africa besides the Durban Film Mart. As the world is constantly eager for more African stories, what do you think is the place of building these film markets on the continent for distribution and funding opportunities? 

Olubi: Thank you for this very important question. This season presents us with an interesting opportunity to hold this conversation. We are mostly scared of circles. But, as someone who comes from finance, where we know circles and see what happens through the years, where only people who are perceptive to what they represent exploit it rather than panicking. Circles and opportunities are seasonal. Thus, for me, as you alluded to in your question, it’s important to have a sort of Pan-African thinking around owning something of ours. We have to be slightly selfish about owning our platforms and spaces. I am keen on seeing how we strengthen the African creative economy as a whole and the business of storytelling. 

Having a film market focused on our work is pertinent. We are thankful that we have films and works to show to the global film community that we have things to offer. I think that this positioning and being at the Cannes Film Market is what we are going to be pushing for and driving that advocacy for doing something for ourselves as a continent as a start. Thankfully, we have made a movie that’s an African story and the opportunity is there to exploit. 

The film is set in the 1897 Benin Kingdom. What were the unique architectural challenges faced in building the world for the film and the financial implication of this?

Omokwe: The film’s existence is testament to I, Lilian, and the team’s resilience in making sure that we made something great. In terms of challenges, there were so many challenges making this film at different points. We filmed in Edo State, that is like a three to four hour drive away from the state. This is where I have never been to in my entire life and it came with security challenges, logistics and lack of cooperation in certain spaces. 

In terms of building the actual world of the film, the film takes place in two timelines: I897 and 1914, just around Nigeria’s amalgamation. Luckily for us, the rich and beautiful Benin culture which the film is set into has been well documented by both the Benin people and British colonists. Lilian owns Oriiz U. Onuwaje’s The Benin Monarchy: An Anthology of Benin History Product Bundle, which the production designer and I immersed ourselves in. 

Judging that I have done a lot of epic shows on TV, I am a huge advocate of telling authentically African stories. With the film, what we wanted to do was to represent the authenticity of the Benin culture in its cultural might. Another thing of importance is that this isn’t the first film about Benin’s cultural heritage. Pot of Life and Invasion 1897, which I recently stumbled on, aren’t in local languages but in English. Also, I say this with all humility, the filmmakers didn’t want to take certain risks, which, judging by the space and time they were made, I understand. But, one of the things we wanted to do with Osamede is to deliver the film in its most authentic and rawest form possible in a bid to be true to the story’s core. This decision comes with its challenges, too. I don’t speak or understand the local language. Even when I told Lilian we would be making the film fully in the local language, I had moments of doubt. But, at the end of the day, thinking back to it, those challenges were worth it. The challenges are the ingredients that made the film what it is today. 

Olubi: James’s response sent me back to memory lane.  It made me reflect on some of the challenges we faced, which we now have a better perspective on. I am so proud that we decided to shoot the film on the actual soil and space we are representing its culture. On the funding side, we had to draw up for investors the core rationale and unique selling points of this movie. This I did in the delivery of the pitch deck to investors. I was able to convince them of the fact that we are making an authentic African story, delivering it in an unusual way, and with the required cinematic excellence that makes it parallel to films like Black Panther, Woman King, and even successful historical superhero movies. On this note, we didn’t have resistance from investors but welcoming responses. 

The investors want the unique proposition of seeing a different historical epic from the South South after we have seen the success of other historical epics from the South West. This is sort of long overdue because how can we have this historical context, which was important to our history and heritage, whose story hasn’t been told on a large scale? We drew on this uniqueness. As to the general effort, we went in with all the muscle that we have gathered from social capital and goodwill, and of course, the prowess of the director and the crew. We are happy for the individual and institutional support we have gotten so far. 

In situations where we had to go over the budget, my background in finance came in handy in managing the information and discrepancies of the situation. For instance, we had to strengthen the security of the cast and crew members. Also, we were shooting in the thick period of inflation, and this comes with its challenges. Lately, there have been nuances of shooting in unfamiliar territory. Credit to James too, there were a lot of useful models and structures he brought to the directing and production side that kept us within the cost bandwidth. All these challenges came, but we had to ensure that we raised funds for them and not compromise on the film’s vision.

It has been said that cinema is a time capsule, and in a period, as ours in Nigeria, of cultural amnesia, it preserves memory and culture. Can you speak to this within the context of the film and the Nigerian film industry? What do you think is the place of cinema in creating a visual archive and repository of Nigeria and African culture? 

Omokwe: I have always said in various interviews that as filmmakers, we are griots and culture custodians. In previous generations, history and culture were passed from one generation to the next through oral literature. Film, for me, is a time capsule where you can recreate, through visuals, things about your culture and grant it immortality. One of the things we don’t have, which is also what influenced what I do as a filmmaker, is that we aren’t taught our history. Using Osamede as a case study, a lot of people aren’t aware of the events that happened in 1897 about the Benin sage when our national treasures were stolen by the British. We are not truly aware of these stories and histories. But with this film, even if fictional, it’s an opportunity to tell this story. What we are simultaneously doing is educating and entertaining viewers on the Benin people’s struggle.  Through the cinematic medium, we are capturing our culture and preserving it for the end of time. And, I think as filmmakers, we owe it to our ancestors, people, and children to show these different aspects of our culture and history visually. For me is the only way we can teach and inform people about our culture and history. 

After the Cannes Film Market, what’s the next path for the film?

Lilian: For us, we want to explore every available distribution route. We want to do festival runs in as many global locations as possible, theatrical distribution locally and internationally and also hopefully release on a global streaming platform that’s accessible to the world. That’s what’s next on a platform basis. 

On a vision basis, what’s next is that there’s an awareness that there is something that shifts in what this movie represents about the reclaiming of our identity and restoring our glory as Africans. We want to shape people’s perception to know that there was a kind of place we were before and a kind of place we can return to in the weight of what we carry as a people. And, we are hoping Osamede will drive discussion, awareness, and awakening, and have a tangible effect on the people. 

Omokwe: As Lilian mentioned, we want to explore every possible opportunity as long as the film exists. Making investment back is important but showing the film and culture is top priority. The film will be theatrically released in Nigeria before the end of the year.