Encomium
-Screening starts on May 2
The much expected release of the movie, Half of a Yellow Sun in cinemas across Nigeria suffered a setback as the anticipated event didn’t take place.
But contrary to widely held belief, the film board in Nigeria didn’t ban the movie. Rather, there was a delay in getting a certification for the movie to be shown in cinemas which was why the producers had to move the release to another date.
According to Film One Distribution, the distributor of the movie, “The movie was not banned by the Nigerian Film and Video Censors Board. “The highly anticipated release of Half of a Yellow Sun in Nigeria has been postponed due to delay in obtaining certification from the Nigerian Film and Video Censors Board for the public release of the film. Subject to obtaining the certification of the board, the film is now rescheduled for release on May 2, 2014.”
Biyi Bandele, the director of the blockbuster shared his frustration from London thus: “What’s frustrating is we have not received a formal letter from the board telling us we’ve been banned, or that we’ve not been banned”.
The movie was expected to start showing in cinemas across Nigeria from Friday April 25, 2014, with massive publicity informing the public about the movie which gulped over $10 million. Posters had decorated Ozone Cinema, Yaba Lagos, Genesis Deluxe, Lekki, Lagos and other places before the news of postponement hit town. Because of this, rumour had gone around that the movie might have been banned because of its Nigeria Civil war content which may reignite the memories of the war between 1966 and 1970 and such issue is too sensitive at this period of Nigeria’s history. Some even said the movie was delayed because of nude scenes. For instance Thandie Newton was filmed with her breast exposed and that the Nigerian film board requested the scene be removed before release.
The Nigerian Film and Video Censors Board has not issued any statement in this regard. The film which is an adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel, Half of a Yellow Sun parades stars like Chiwetel Ejiofor, OC Ukeje, Genevieve Nnaji, Onyeka Onwenu, Zack Orji, Wale Ojo and others. The movie was shot in London and Calabar, Cross River State. It is a love story which happened during a war, using the Nigeria Civil war as background.
– FOLUSO SAMUEL
