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THE PLOT

The Man Died is the story of Wole Soyinka’s 27 months incarceration by the Nigerian government in 1967 at the cusp of the civil war. He was famously seeking a truce between Biafra and the Federal Government to allow time for a negotiated settlement of the conflict. It is fundamentally a personal account. Essentially, the subject found refuge from the brutality inflicted upon him by retreating into and living within his own mind. At times, he drifted about the frontiers of madness, hanging on to his self by a thread. At other time, he pondered, listened, watched, like only the truly otherwise unoccupied can.
Importantly, he managed to scrounge paper and a pencil from time to time and record his journey of ‘motionlessness.’
Wole Soyinka, born July 13, 1934 in Abeokuta, Ogun State Nigeria to a clergy father and trader-activist mother, is a poet, playwright, memoirist, essayist and political activist who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986.

"At times, he drifted about the frontiers of madness, hanging on to his self by a thread. At other time, he pondered, listened, watched, like only the truly otherwise unoccupied can."

Executive Summary

  • Project Description – FEATURE FILM (150MINS. PRODUCED 2024)
  • PRODUCTION COMPANY – ZURI24MEDIA LIMITED
  • SCREENPLAY BY – BODE ASIYANBI
  • PRODUCED BY – FEMI ODUGBEMI
  • DIRECTED BY – AWAM AMKPA
  • PROPOSED PUBLIC PREMIERE : 12TH JULY, 2024.

SYNOPSIS

WOLE is out in the night, hunting – an expedition which brings back memories of the times spent with his grandfather who amongst many words of wisdom, taught him to face his fears and never to turn the other cheek. From a written note in Wole’s car, it’s established he has been warned to stay out of circulation, so when he shows up at FEMI JOHNSON’s customary weekend soiree, an alarmed MILITARY INTELLIGENCE OFFICER, who had sent him the warning note, warns him to go undercover – the army is looking to arrest him and possibly kill him; notifying him that his office had just been raided.

The duo of FEMI JOHNSON and BOLA IGE forces a reluctant Wole to heed the warning but as he sets off, he remembers he needed to disband a group of activists waiting on his command to start an anti-war rally and despite the attempts of the concerned trio to sway him, he insists it is only right he disbands them so they do not endanger their lives by rioting when they don’t see him. As he drives through University College Ibadan, he is arrested by a lone police officer. A tussle for his body begins between the military governor in Ibadan, Governor Adebayo and the federal might of Lagos.

Lagos wins and Wole is transferred to Lagos where all agreements made to Governor Adebayo to bring him (Wole) safely back to Ibadan are broken. He is interrogated by the ruthless officer, YISA who has been given the mandate to frame and liquidate him. The interrogation reveals Wole’s offence – his visit to the Biafran warlord – Emeka Odumegwu -Ojukwu in Enugu under the aegis of the THIRD FORCE. The visit had rattled the military government as they believed Wole, with his international clout is capable of giving both armed and diplomatic advantage to Biafra. Wole refuses to implicate any of the Third Force members, angering Yisa. Despite Wole’s insistent he was there just to find a way to end the joke of a war; he is chained and sent to Kirikiri where he rejects an offer from the government to implicate an Easterner for a cabinet position. Wole manages to smuggle out a letter to comrades in the university encouraging them to keep on the fight and informing them that he remains committed to the cause only for the letter to end up in government’s hands, setting off a dangerous chain of events that will see Wole framed and subsequently marked for liquidation. It will take partnership of his lover MORENIKE and the rallying together of the prison community regardless of tribe, tongue and creed to unite to save Wole from imminent death – a probable metaphor of what makes a nation.

Cast

Wale Ojo

As Wole Soyinka

SAM DEDE

As Yisa

NOBERT YOUNG

As Superintendent

SIMILOLUWA HASSAN

As Emeka Ojukwu

Cast

CHRISTINAH OSHUNNIYI

As Laide Soyinka

ABRAHAM AMKPA

As Femi Johnson

SEGILOLA OGIDAN

As Morenike

TEMILOLU FOSUDO

As Bola Ige

WILLIAMS IDAKWO

AS VICTOR BANJO

EDMOND ENAIB

AS AIG

Gowon's Governing Council

ROPO EWENLA

AS OLUSEGUN OBASANJO

HENRY DIABUAH

AS YAKUBU GOWON

ONIFADE STEPHEN

AS KAM SALEM

Meet The Directors









AWAM AMKPA

Awam Amkpa is a professor of drama, film and social and cultural analysis at New York University in New York and Abu Dhabi. Actor, playwright, director of stage plays, films and curator of visual arts, Awam Amkpa is a Nigerian-American.

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WOLE SOYINKA

Akonwande Oluwole “Wole” Soyinka was born in Abeokuta in Western Nigeria. At the time, Nigeria was a Dominion of the British Empire.

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SCENE SNIPPETS

PRODUCER

Femi Odugbemi

Femi ODUGBEMI is an accomplished Storyteller, content producer, filmmaker, and media scholar. He is the Founder/CEO of Zuri24 Media Lagos. His screen credits over 25 years in the creative industries span feature films, multiple drama TV series and documentaries. He was one of the founding Producers of the daily soap-opera Tinsel as well as Executive Producer of several popular TV soap operas, including BATTLEGROUND, BRETHREN, MOVEMENT JAPA and COVENANT. He has produced several award-winning documentaries and feature films. He is Co-Founder/Executive Director of the IREPRESENT International Documentary Film Festival Lagos and a voting Member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

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THE MAN DIED

THE MAN DIED