Three entertainment companies based in Abuja, Pace Productions, Future World Entertainment and Aikod Global Entertainment, recently came together to chaperone a new film in a gesture clearly driven by a need to support the Federal Government’s ant-terrorism campaign.
Simply titled, Conscripted, the movie is a thriller aimed at educating Nigerians on how best to tackle the menace posed by the Boko Haram and other armed insurgents to peace in the North East. Produced by Sunny Awoji and directed by Paul Papel for Capital Film Initiative, the movie was shot entirely in the Federal Capital Territory to reflect recent bombings in the city. It mirrors the challenges faced by the nation’s security forces in the course of checking the activities of insurgents in our society, the strategies deployed by terrorist groups and their modus operandi, while proffering possible solutions through the dramatic presentations in the action packed movie.
Conscripted also celebrates Abuja and its fine points. It parades some of the most promising actors in Nollywood, such as Aike Odiase, Chinyere Okorie, Sunny Williams, Preach Bassey and others.
“We shot this movie to encourage the security agencies to be proactive in combating crimes and to fast-track investigations when issues come up. So we decided to do something that could be a guide to our security agencies,” the producer says.
Conscripted was voted the Overall Best Audience movie at the recent Abuja International Film Festival.
Although the film celebrates the triumph of our men and women in uniform over the adversaries that daily confront the nation, all efforts to make it available to the public has not been successful.
The producers complain that some mainstream movie distribution organisations were contacted for distribution purposes, but the film was turned down on the pretext that it was not economically viable; not capable of bringing footfalls to the theatre. The film was shot with a budget of N16m.
Punch