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Taking the opportunity to showcase Nigerian cinema, and dissect issues germane to local audiences, Blessing Uzzi has written a powerful story about police brutality and the unjust consequences it carries. Afolabi Olalekan is tasked with bringing Freedom Way to the screen, and both spoke with Film Inquiry about the film.
Wilson Kwong for Film Inquiry: Am I correct to assume that the events depicted in the film are based on real events?
Blessing Uzzi: It is loosely based on true events that are true to Nigeria, on the collective experiences of the people here. I wrote the first draft of the film as a short few a few years ago, when there was a campaign around ‘treat now, ask later’ in Nigeria. Many people were shocked that a girl might have been robbed and shot, and on arrival to the hospital, they wouldn’t agree to treat her without a police report because they assumed she might be a criminal or did something wrong. It was in the law back then, so there was a whole campaign in Nigeria asking [hospitals] to treat now, and ask later. That was when I had the very first idea of writing this film. Then, a few years later, there was a motorcycle ban in Nigeria as well, and I just kept thinking to myself, what’s going to happen to these people? How are they going to provide for their families? Because there were no alternatives for them. Crash is also one of my favourite films, so I wanted to write something like that.
And after seeing the script, what specifically attracted you to this project?
Afolabi Olalekan: So I’d seen quite a number of things happen in the country, and when I read in the script the scene between the police and co-founders, and having been in a similar situation myself, it was a no brainer; this is a story that needs to be told.
And did having a personal connection to the material make it easier or more challenging to work on the film?
Blessing Uzzi: There are certain things, that for me, are very triggering because I live here and encounter these things almost every day. So it was very difficult to make and write the film. But it was also easier because it’s easy to tell something you’re very familiar with. We would know if we’re telling it right or wrong. We tried our best to make sure nothing is exaggerated and everything is true. It’s half and half for me.
Afolabi Olalekan: I think it was easier not just for me, but also for the actors because we are all Nigerians who have lived in Nigeria for most of our lives. So it’s easy for everybody to get into the space where you understand particular things, and working with the actors on set was quite easy. They all had personal experiences to draw from.
I assume due to the personal connection, there wasn’t a lot of additional research that needed to be done prior to writing and fliming?
Blessing Uzzi: No, there was a lot of research [because] there were many things we didn’t know was happening in Nigeria. As I was writing and reading articles, trying to dig deeper into what was happening behind closed doors, I had to do a lot of research and ask lots of questions. The research add nuances and helped us tell a better story.
source: Toronto International Film Festival
So much of the film was shot on location. How was that experience?
Afolabi Olalekan: Filming on location in Nigeria is always challenging for several factors. It doesn’t matter if you’re making a very simple shot, as long as you’re shooting on location in Lagos, it’s definitely stressful. We shot in different parts of Nigeria, and because we speak difference languages [and dialects], it was tricky to communicate with everyone. Particularly in the bike scenes, because we had almost a hundred motorcycle riders. Communicating with every single person to do exactly what they’re supposed to do was the most challenging part of that particular scene. Every day, we also had to make sure we have the right permission to shoot at specific places, and we spent a lot of time at night in the middle of Lagos Island, which is a crazy place to shoot in Lagos.
For those of us who aren’t very familiar with Nigerian cinema, is Freedom Way considered a commercial film that’s meant to appeal to a broad audience? Where does the film fit within the local film industry?
Blessing Uzzi: It’s not a niche film, and leans more towards commercial. Beyond being a story that everyone here knows, it also has Nigerian veteran actors, so it it definitely more commercial than niche.
How do you think the reception here in Toronto will be for the film?
Blessing Uzzi: Honestly, I don’t know. It’s our first time here and we’re grateful for that. I guess by Saturday we’ll find out. But something I do know is that police brutality is a global thing. It’s a global pandemic. So I want to believe that there are Nigerian nuances in the film, but there is something that [everyone] can relate to.
What was the most challenging thing about making Freedom Way?
Blessing Uzzi: I think from a producing perspective, fundraising is always every filmmaker’s nightmare. You need a lot of money to make films, which was definitely hard. From a writing perspective, trying to make sure that you don’t offend the government or offend certain class of people in Nigeria was also quite challenging. Because in as much as you’re free to tell whatever story you want to tell here, people have also gotten into trouble for telling specific types of stories.
Afolabi Olalekan: There was the general challenge of producing something in this environment that was just difficult. Since Freedom Way was shot on location at odd hours, we had to stay up all night because the roads were free at that time. This made the shoot a little more stressful than what we wanted it to be. Working with an ensemble cast was also very difficult because I was trying to make sure that every actor was available, considering that some of these [actors] are very busy and popular.
Film Inquiry would like to thank Afolabi Olalekan and Blessing Uzzi for tanking the time to speak with us!
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