The feature film inspired by Wole Soyinka’s prison notes of same title- The Man Died, has been nominated for the award of “Best Feature Narrative” at the 33rd Pan African Film and Arts Festival.
The award event scheduled for February 4-17 in Los Angeles, USA, is themed, Dream Beyond.
The news about the nomination was contained in a letter signed by Miki Goral, the festival’s Filmmaker Liaison & Research Director, on behalf of the PAFF directorate.
“I am happy to inform you that The Man Died has been nominated for the “juried Best Feature Narrative at the Pan African Film Festival, “it stated.
The Directorate had also hinted earlier that the 105 minutes feature will be screened on February 12 and 14 at the Culver Theatre, Culver city, California. It is the film’s first appearance in the United States, having toured London, UK twice, North Africa twice, among others.
The film has so far won three awards, including the latest at the 14th Luxor African Film Festival in Upper Egypt, earlier this month, where it won “Best African Film That Tackle An Important African Issue.”
Before Luxor, the film had clinched Best Screenplay awards at both the African International film Festival, AFRIFF, (November 3-9, Lagos), and at the 35th Carthage International Film Festival, held November 14-21 in Tunis. It also won Best Audience Choice Award at the Eastern Nigeria International Film Festival, ENIFF, Enugu, November 27-30.
The Man Died stars an array of renowned actors in Nigeria including Wale Ojo as Wole, Sam Dede as Yisa, Norbert Young (Prison Superintendent), Francis Onwochei (Prison Controller) and Edmund Enaibe as Commissioner; as well as international actors, London-UK-based Christiana Oshunniyi (Laide Soyinka), and Los Angeles, USA-based Abraham Awam-Amkpa (Johnson), among others.
In continuation of its global tour, The Man Died, has been selected for the Jo’Burg Film Festival, holding March 11-16. It is being considered for special screenings at educational institutions in Florence, Italy; Abu Dhabi in the UAE; Oxford University, UK, as well as at New York University, Harvard University, and at Ithaca College, all in the USA, among others. This is as it is also being reviewed by at least three major global streaming platforms, and international distribution channels.
Though yet to be officially released to the market, The Man Died, was written by UK-based Bode Asiyanbi, directed by New York and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates-based Awam Amkpa and produced by Femi Odugbemi for Zuri24 Media.
Since its “special-premiere” in July in Lagos to mark the Nobel laureate dramatist, poet, essayist and human/civil rights activist, Soyinka’s 90th birthday, the film has had a series of home runs including on October 5 at the Quramo Festival of Words, QFest 2024, Lagos; and the Lagos Book & Art Festival, LABAF on November 14.
It began its global tour in London in July as part of the Wole Soyinka at 90 celebration jointly organized and hosted by the Africa Centre and the Wole Soyinka International Cultural Exchange, WSICE. It returned to same London in October as part of the African Film Festival, and also had an educational screening at the University of East Anglia, Norwich. It was screened on October 11 on the ‘Accra Streamfest’ bill of the “Labone Dialogues”, hosted by New York University, NYU Accra.
Produced by Zuri 24 Media, The Man Died, tells the story of “Wole Soyinka’s 27 months incarceration by the Nigerian government in 1967 during the civil war. He was famously seeking a truce between Biafra and the Federal Government to allow time for a negotiated settlement of the conflict. It is fundamentally a personal account. Essentially, the subject found refuge from the brutality inflicted upon him by retreating into and living within his own mind. At times, he drifted about the frontiers of madness, hanging on to himself by a thread. At other times, he pondered, listened, and watched, like only the truly otherwise unoccupied can. Importantly, he managed to scrounge paper and a pencil from time to time and record his journey of ‘motionlessness.”
Established in 1992 by Hollywood veterans Danny Glover (The Color Purple, Lethal Weapon), the late Ja’Net DuBois (“Good Times”), and Ayuko Babu, the Pan African Film & Arts Festival (PAFF) has, according to its website, remained “dedicated to the promotion of Black stories and images through the exhibition of film, visual art, and other creative expression. For over 30 years, PAFF has been the international beacon for the African diaspora film and arts communities. Every year, it showcases over 200 new high-quality Black films from the U.S., Africa, the Caribbean, South America, Europe, the South Pacific, Canada, and increasingly, Asia.
