- Title: Collision course: Nigerian movie explores impact of police brutality
- Date: 15th November 2021
- Summary: VIENNA, AUSTRIA (NOVEMBER 15, 2021) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING IN CENTRAL VIENNA, ST. STEPHEN'S CATHEDRAL BACKGROUND PEOPLE WALKING PAST POLICE CAR (SOUNDBITE) (English) ISRAELI TOURIST, YEHIAV AMIEL, SAYING: "Well, I think it is a good idea because most people who want to vaccinate should be free and enjoy life, go to work and do whatever they want. If someone do
- Embargoed: 29th November 2021 09:59
- Keywords: Collision Course EndSARS Movie Police brutality Protests
- Location: LAGOS
- City: LAGOS
- Country: Nigeria
- Topics: Africa
- Reuters ID: LVA003F3PJY3B
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A new movie exploring the impact of rogue law enforcement officers on Nigerian society and inspired by last year's anti-police brutality protests was premiered at one of Africa's foremost film festivals in Lagos.
The movie - Collision Course - tells the story of a law enforcement officer struggling to make ends meet and an aspiring musician whose worlds collide.
The officer complains about poor accommodation and failing to make ends meet but assures his wife that everything will be fine.
The officer sets up a roadblock to demand bribes and meets the frustrated young artist, whom he mistakenly shoots dead, setting in motion a chain of events that leads to him being arrested and consequently igniting a wave of nationwide protests.
Movie director Bolanle Austen-Peters said the film seeks to show some of the underlying issues that forces someone to turn against the very same people he swore to defend.
''What makes a policeman who takes an oath to protect and to defend, or someone who is uniform not necessarily a policeman, turn against those that he is supposed to be protecting, and I found out that every single person in story had a backstory that we all needed to understand, and at the end of this when you watch this movie you begin to understand that we are all victims, we are all brutalized by the system that we live in,'' she told Reuters.
Kelechi Udegbe acted the role of Magnus, the poor police officer who mistakenly shoots the musician.
''When we come together this is what happens, so from your own part what can we really do to stop these things from happening, that is what the film is saying. It is talking about two sides of the story, so I expect people to see it and talk about solutions to the issues that the film has brought up,'' he said.
The 75-minute movie was done on a budget of 150 million naira ($183,000) and was the closing film at the African International Film Festival, AFRIFF 2021.
Festival closing films are typically the centre piece film of festivals.
Better known as Nollywood, Nigeria's multibillion dollar industry churns out movies and TV shows at a rate second only to India's Bollywood on modest budgets and employs 1 million people.
Movie guests were left with mixed emotions.
"A bit of anger and…I don't know…will I say a bit of despair because you know it brings back memories of what happened a year ago…EndSARS and all of that, and not only does it bring back memories of the people that we've lost in such incidences and situations but the fact that nothing has been done,'' Imo Florence said.
''I think it is a movie about people trying to live a better life, that is what I really think it is, across all spectrums of the characters, across the policeman, across the singer who was actually meant to be a lawyer, all the characters in total are trying their best to live their best lives and trying their best to find a way to thrive in Nigeria,'' said Ojie Imoloame.
Nigerians last year took to the streets to demand an end to what demonstrators said was endemic police brutality.
But the ebullient protests, which had taken place in cities across the nation of some 200 million, ended at a Lagos toll gate in a hail of gunfire.
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