Adekunle Adejuyigbe a.k.a Nodash, Producer of ‘Delivery Boy,’ a new movie, says the movie explores the lives of terrorists and suicide bombers before terrorism, hoping to find out the reasons for their actions.
Nodash is an award-winning Film Director and Director of Photography known for his ability to create artistic pictures and deeply analyse stories especially in acclaimed film and television shows such as ‘Isoken’ and ‘Gidi Up’.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that in the teasers for ‘Delivery Boy,’ the audience see a young suicide bomber explaining his dilemma, reminding people that he is just like them.
In another teaser dubbed ‘Nkem’s Prayer’, a young prostitute prepares to go out at night knowing that she might not make it back home. She prays solemnly.
‘Delivery Boy’ is the story of a runaway teenage suicide bomber (Jammal Ibrahim) and his newfound ally, a young prostitute (Jemima Osunde) who must rely on each other to survive the night.
They search for answers to situations that made them who they are. They are both running out of time and soon realise they need each other to achieve their goals.
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Their journey takes them through the underbelly of the city exposing the hidden backside of the African society and its dangerous culture of silence in the presence of evil.
According to Nodash, ‘Delivery Boy’ was written in 2014/2015 during the peak of the Boko Haram insurgency because he struggled to understand how people went on to become suicide bombers.
In an interview with NAN on Monday, he said, “It was written at a time when terrorism was a very hot topic around the world especially in Nigeria.
“I was struggling to understand why somebody like you and I will just put a bomb on themselves and blow it up.
“I also thought about how we are, all of us, when we talk about terrorism. We always talk about them from a detached perspective like, oh, those bad people.
“I honestly believe that any issue that exists in any society can only be solved by us.
‘Delivery Boy’ is my own way of exploring what could make one young guy be a part of this group and decide he will blow himself up.
“And then finding that all of us are guilty at the end of the day.
It’s not something that is far from us, we all contributed to make it what it is and it has now come back to haunt us.
“What if it’s not what everybody thinks? What if it is a symptom of a sickness we all have as a society and that we are all contributing to it?,” he said.
While the film focuses on exploring the back story of a terrorist, the addition of a prostitute as a second subject added a new twist.
Explaining the idea behind it, Nodash told NAN, “The ‘Delivery Boy’ is not just about terrorism. Terrorism is like the canvass, it’s really about how relationships can create situations that make us go to the extreme.
“It’s really a love story beneath all of that.
The film is like a mirror. When you put a terrorist and a prostitute in a film, people already have their minds made up.
“Because of that, people have a certain sense of openness to exploring these people’s worlds. Its showing them themselves but because it’s so far from their reality.
“It’s easy for them to just stay in that space and not judge. It’s easy for them to enjoy the movie,” he said.
The film has screened around the world in various festivals including the 25th New York African Film Festival, Lights, Camera, Action Film Festival and Nollywood Week Paris.
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‘Delivery Boy’ also screened at Jagran International Film Festival, Lake International Pan African Film Festival, Real Time International Film Festival and won Best Nigerian Film at the 2018 AFRIFF Globe Awards.
Describing the reactions during the festival runs, Nodash said that the most exciting thing was that the international audience could relate despite having a lot of Hausa and Pidgin English dialogues.
“Seeing people in Europe, Asia and US reacting to it as if they know the story tells me that they could see themselves in the story. The reaction has been lovely,” he said.
As ‘Delivery Boy’ prepares to screen on May 24, Nodash wants Nigerians to spend time listening to the dialogues and discuss the issues raised in the film among themselves.
He said, “There are many issues in the film that I put out but did not give an opinion. I left it for the audience to fill in.
“I feel like a lot of the issues in the film can’t be concluded because they are inconclusive.
“I would like the audience to take those things and have discussions about them – online or offline.” (NAN)
