The Man Died, a feature film inspired by Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka’s prison notes of the same title is continuing its global tour with screenings at the Carthage Film Festival in Tunisia, which runs from November 14 to 21.
The film is scheduled to screen at L’Opera Cinema on Sunday, at ABC on December 16 and Amilcar on December 17, catering to both international festival attendees and local audiences.
Founded in 1966, the Carthage Film Festival is one of the oldest film festivals in the world.
It champions African and Arab cinema, with its main prize being the Golden Tanit, named after the Carthaginian goddess.
The 2024 edition is directed by Sonia Chamkhi.
Written by UK-based Bode Asiyanbi, directed by Awam Amkpa and produced by Femi Odugbemi for Zuri24 Media, The Man Died has already won the Best Screenplay Award at the 2024 African International Film Festival (AFRIFF) in November and the Best Audience Choice Award at the Eastern Nigeria International Film Festival (ENIFF).
The film recounts Wole Soyinka’s 27-month incarceration during the Nigerian Civil War in 1967, where the Nobel laureate sought a truce between Biafra and the Federal Government.
The story captures Soyinka’s struggle with solitude, the brink of madness and his refuge in writing during imprisonment.
Starring Wale Ojo as Wole Soyinka, Sam Dede as Yisa, Norbert Young as the prison superintendent, Francis Onwochei as the prison controller, Edmund Enaibe as the commissioner, Christiana Oshunniyi as Laide Soyinka and Abraham Awam-Amkpa as Johnson, the film blends Nigerian and international talent.
The Man Died began its global journey in July in London as part of the Wole Soyinka at 90 celebrations, jointly hosted by the Africa Centre and the Wole Soyinka International Cultural Exchange (WSICE).
It returned to London in October for the African Film Festival and had an educational screening at the University of East Anglia in Norwich.
The film has also been screened at the Quramo Festival of Words (QFest) in Lagos on October 5, the Lagos Book and Art Festival (LABAF) on November 14 and NYU Accra’s Labone Dialogues on October 11.
It is already programmed for the Luxor International Film Festival in Egypt (January 2024), the Jo’Burg Film Festival in South Africa (February), the African Film Festival in New York (March) and FESPACO in Burkina Faso (March).
The film is being reviewed by international streaming platforms and considered for distribution across global channels.
Special screenings are planned at educational institutions such as Florence, Italy; Abu Dhabi in the UAE; Johannesburg, South Africa; Harvard University, Oxford University and Ithaca College in the USA.
Amkpa, the film’s director, is a Nigerian-American professor at New York University, known for his work in drama, film and visual arts.
Odugbemi, the producer, is the CEO of Zuri24 Media Lagos and a veteran filmmaker whose credits include Tinsel, Battleground and award-winning documentaries.
