FUNKE OSAE-BROWN
Lovers of Kunle Afolayan’s films ae in for a treat pre-easter weekend as the much-awaited film he produced in partnership with Africa Magic is already showing at the cinema from Friday April 7, 2017.
The film which is in all cinemas for a week is one of the three films Afolayan was commissioned by Africa Magic to shoot.
Written by Kemi Adesoye, Omugwo, tells the story of ‘Can Dance’ played by Ayo Adesanya who moves in to assist her daughter, Omotunde, with childcare after she just puts to bed. Omotunde, a young civil engineer, married to Raymond, an OAP and Patience Ozokwor’s son.
The plot of the film is woven around the contentions between Adesanya and Patience Ozokwor, who both moved in with their children to perform the Igbo tradition of child care, Omugwo.
Their stay with Omotunde and Raymond juxtaposes modern ways of child nursing with traditional method. Adesanya is portrayed as a sophisticated modern woman who loves to travel to Italy for shopping. She is largely unschooled in simple task of bathing an infant, changing diaper and the baby’s general care. Ozokwor comes in as the wise one with her traditional knowledge in baby care. The contention between Adesanya and Ozokwor reaches the climax when she brazenly challenges Adesanya over her inadequacies. The film celebrates motherhood just as it exposes some foibles in both traditional and modern methods of child care.
Speaking at the screening of the movie on Wednesday at Silverbird Galleria, Afolayan said ‘Omugwo’ is a small-budget television drama commissioned by the Africa Magic in partnership with his company, Golden Effects Productions.
“I am particularly excited about the film because it is a slight departure from my usual style of story-telling, going by its comic nature. It’s a comedy and most people perceive most of my works as being serious, so I had this watered down. It was originally supposed to be a TV series but I had to include my own money to make it into a full length Nollywood film,” he explained.