Most African films are not well known, but I think Mbamara is well on his way to changing this. Basically, it's A journey back in time as an African warrior becomes a slave to his captors clan from the invasion of some ruthless slave-traders in 18th century Africa.
Synopsis
A journey back in time as an African warrior becomes a slave to save his captors clan from the invasion of some ruthless slave-traders in 18th century Africa.
Could one man have fought the battle all alone?
"Slave Warrior" raises and addresses several historical questions such as: Was there slavery before the coming of western civilization in Africa? If yes, how did it fare? If no, what obtained in its place?
Female warriors played major roles in the tribal battles of those days, but is there any relation between such tribal wars and slavery?
Did the coming of western civilization, slave masters, traders, and raiders into the territories now known as Africa have any impact on the lives and ways of living of those inhabitants?
Why would some Africans be party to a trade that took some of their fellows away to lands of no return, "across the seas?"
Watch a 3-minute preview here - 5.80MB - (Please be patient while the trailer downloads, it should then open up in Windows Media Player).
Visit the website for more photos, meet the director and to be kept up to date on the release date.
MOTIVATION:
Although, Oliver always liked to share his understanding of African cultural history, after coming across the comments of Debbie Allen (Producer, Amistad) about the non-availability of essential courses about Africa and African ancestral/cultural history to African Americans in the American educational curriculum, he was convinced to share with the larger public, his little understanding of African ancestral history including slavery. To him it was a pleasure to do the same through the medium of a feature film like "Slave Warrior." However, the question remained - Could he pull it off in 10 days of a supposed vacation time in Africa?
THE CHALLENGE: From the moment Oliver voiced his intention to embark on this film project, most observers presented him with the picture of how this would be a daunting and uphill (if not impossible) task considering the time, finance, and the high number of cast and crew members that will be required to pull off the project especially with the location set in Africa. Nevertheless, Oliver's determination to see the movie through remained undaunted from the moment he picked up his pen to write the first line of the script. To him, the chance of providing many fellow African actors (both young and old) with a shot at the big screen internationally, coupled with the chance of bringing employment to himself and the rest was enough motivation
THE TEAM:
This production enjoys the experience of some notable hands. Apart from Oliver Oscar Mbamara , the writer, producer, and director, there are other able hands and assistants such as Sanctus Okereke, an experienced director in his own right; revered actors like Nze Fabian Adibe, David Ihese, Don Nkoloagu, Patrick Njoku, and Charles Mbamara, a Certified Public Accountant plus others who are glad to be part of this bold experiment not just because of the story but also because of the approach. It is quietly believed that the making of this film brings with it yet another dynamic to the field of African independent film making.
Three O Productions Inc. (OOO) serves as the Associate Producer.
CAST and CREW
The cast and crew consisted of a cross section of African artists from West to North Africa
More On Cast And Crew
LOCATION:
The film was supposed completely shot in three a couple of communities in Imo State Nigeria, West Africa.
SCRIPT, LANGUAGE, and HISTORICAL IMPACT:
The script was written by Oliver Oscar Mbamara inspired by a true life story told him by his father Sir, Lazarus Mbamara Ekejiuba, who serves as the historical adviser to the film and its production crew.
The script is a 90 page standard script written in English. However, Oliver sees this film as an opportunity to uplift the Igbo language which is the true language of the Ibo tribe in which the true story occurred. So, during pre-production, the script was translated to Ibo language.
Apart from promoting the Ibo language, another strong reason for Oliver's insistence on translating the script to Ibo language is his desire to present the story behind the film in the closest manner possible to the true circumstances. For instance, during the coming of western slavery, many Africans spoke their traditional language and managed to communicate with the foreigners through interpretation, qualified language like broken-English, or managed education in such foreign language involved (whether English, French, or Portuguese, for example). Most 16th -18th century Africans hardly spoke any of these foreign languages. It will therefore be preposterous to have the actors speak Queens English in a movie based on a story that happened in the 18th century. An expert whom Oliver had sought his opinion about subtitling such a movie, had warned Oliver not to subtitle the film since Hollywood does not desire subtitled films. Although Oliver has his respect for Hollywood, he insists that an African story should be told the African way (as much as possible). He hopes that despite the language difference and subtitling of the film, Hollywood, Nothinghill, Paris, etc., would still find significant value and treasure in the film. We wish him the best.
