April 29 & May 1: “Abeni”
Sun Apr 29 6:15pm Indy Men’s Magazine Screening Room (Landmark)
Tues May 1 4:00pm NUVO Screening Room (Landmark)
Ticket info: http://indyfilmfest.org/tickets.html
See the best of “Nollywood” (Nigeria’s
Hollywood) with “
Abeni.” In a country where fifty new films are produced every week and a movie mad population voraciously consumes them all with unparalleled ferocity, filmmaker Yunde Kelani sets himself apart from the formidable pack with this enthralling tale of long lost love set against the backdrop of the Yoruba culture. Abeni (Sola Asedeko) has lived a charmed life. The ambitious daughter of a wealthy father, she is set to be married and all signs point to a healthy and prosperous future. In contrast, Akanni (Abdel Hakim Amzat) was born into poverty, but has since managed to improve his lot in life through steady determination and a healthy dose of hard work. When Akanni was a child, his father worked for Abeni’s father and the two youngsters became sweethearts. Akanni was a reckless boy though, and as a result of his foolish actions his family was eventually forced to relocate across the Nigerian border and set up a new homestead in
Cotonou, Benin. When fate brings Abeni and Akanni together once again after years of separation and the childhood bond that the pair once shared proves as powerful as ever, both their well-planned futures - and their commitments to their respective fiancées - soon begin to crumble as the childhood sweethearts finally realize that they truly were meant to be together A subplot involving two young men recently returned from the United States in full hiphop regalia is hilarious; one of them becomes Abeni’s unwanted suitor. On a broader level, Kelani offers a fascinating portrait of the Yoruba culture that flows between
Nigeria and
Benin. His trilingual characters may have arrived in the urban middle class, but still display proud traditions in their actions and in their spectacular clothes. Abeni represents the best of Nollywood, right up to the cliffhanger ending.
If you like this film…See “Eagle vs. Shark,” another odd romantic tale. “War/Dance” shows another aspect of African life.
You should know before you go… You might want to know a bit about Nigerian cinema (Nollywood). Learn about Yoruba culture to understand the pressures the characters are experiencing.
This entry was posted
on Friday, April 27th, 2007 at 11:17 am and is filed under Events.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
