The short film ‘See My World: Manchester, Lagos and Me’, is set to premiere in Manchester, the United Kingdom, and in Lagos and Abuja.
The film will premiere on Thursday, 21 March, at the British Council, Ikoyi, Lagos. On Tuesday, 26 March, it will premiere in Manchester; and on Thursday, 28 March, in Abuja.
‘See My World’ – which explores the cultural and political conditions of artists in Lagos and Manchester – was co-produced by Big People Music (BPM) and Big People Community (BPC) in association with the Book Buzz Foundation (BBF).
The film was funded by the British Council as part of BPM’s See My World series of multilingual, intergenerational, and Pan-African experiences.
The film’s idea follows the mantra of See My World, a 2020 festival that documented and archived the stories and experiences of the Pan-African diaspora. The collaboration facilitated a cross-continental exchange of art and culture, and a week-long residency in Lagos where the artists connected face-to-face.
BPM and BPC founder, and artistic director, Tunde Adekoya − who described the film as a cinematic exhibition − stated that bringing the vision of the film to life has been beautiful.
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“The film has provided us with another medium to platform new narratives and also provides meaningful opportunities for artistic collaboration which is a beautiful thing,” Adekoya added.
Joshua Inyang, of Space Afrika, said that the See My World residency provided an eye-opening, rewarding, and fulfilling experience to celebrate, share and re-learn the Nigerian culture.
Inyang added that the residency offered him the opportunity “to unite with friends and family overseas, and to engage with local culture and creatives simultaneously alongside an amazing team of people who I can now call friends.”
Other people who worked on the film project, included − but not limited to − multi-disciplinary artist Papa Nii Akushey Quaye from Manchester, poet and performing artist Deborah Johnson, and musician and filmmaker Ayokunle Odunsi from Lagos.
The producers of the project noted that the film is a unique depiction of the beauty of the two oddly connected cities.
They added that the project was a “memoir of the residency experience, an education into the minds and creativity of Pan-African artists who make these cities pop.”
Also, according to the producers, the film sets out to demystify the stereotypes that haunt Lagos and Manchester while amplifying the true cultural progressions that are consciously and subconsciously taking place in both cities, always just outside of the gaze of the mainstream media.
