At the exclusive premiere of “The Fake Prophet” in Abuja
The premiere was planned to coincide with this year’s Day of the African Child because the film is aimed at combating the menace of child witch stigmatization, which has been in part blamed on some Nollywood films that projected these beliefs. The event held at the Silverbird Cinemas, Abuja and was attended by Retired Chief […]
The premiere was planned to coincide with this year’s Day of the African Child because the film is aimed at combating the menace of child witch stigmatization, which has been in part blamed on some Nollywood films that projected these beliefs.
The event held at the Silverbird Cinemas, Abuja and was attended by Retired Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Muhammad Lawal Uwais and his wife, Maryam Uwais, the Archbishop of Abuja, Bishop John Onayekan and members of the diplomatic corps.None of the film’s star was in attendance but director Teco Benson was there.
The Fake Prophet tells the story of a failed child trafficker (Charles Okafor) who returns to his village to start a church in order to get rich. His path crossed with that of a secondary school student, (Grace Amah) who is being accused of using witchcraft to cause her father’s death. The prophet certifies the girl a witch and orders her banishment to the evil forest.
Eventually, the girl is trafficked to work as a prostitute in Europe and her return to the country helps bring an end to a human trafficking ring and the arrest of the fake prophet.
Like most Nollywood movies, this could have been done better. The rambling plot, shaky camera, needless monologues, and miscued background music combined to make the movie technically impoverished, but the scintillating performance of Charles Okafor as a dubious, desperately greedy and sometimes randy pastor comes to the rescue – a bit.
After the screening, the director, Teco Benson, said, “I am a firm believer in the power of film to bring about positive change in society and I consider that The Fake Prophet is the first truly socially responsible Nollywood film to be made. Given the projected reach of the film, and the global power of the Nollywood film industry, we are sure that this film will help to hugely improve the lives of Nigerian children through raising awareness about the child rights abuses that they suffer. I very much hope that others will now follow our lead and that Nollywood as a whole will start to widely promote the protection of child rights”.
On his part, Gary Foxcroft, Director of SSN, said: “The Fake Prophet is an important part of our Prevent Abuse of Children Today (PACT) campaign and we are very excited about its potential to promote and uphold the rights of Nigerian children. We are also delighted to premiere the film to celebrate the Day of the African Child and its subsequent release will therefore help raise awareness about the plight of street children throughout Africa. We are sure that this film will stimulate both debate and action on child rights by individuals and governments within Nigeria and across the world”.
According to Mr Arinse, Head of Media and Communications at NAPTIP, “The film clearly highlights the link between child witchcraft accusations and child trafficking. NAPTIP remains deeply committed to stamping out these societal ills and looks forward to working with partners to distribute the film widely across Nigeria and thereby help to uphold the rights of children”.