The Nigerian film industry, popularly known as Nollywood, recently made huge strides on the international scene, when one of it’s epic movie, “Invasion 1897 (Nogbaisi Ovonramwen),” was adopted by the American government through its agency, Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.
Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen, the producer of the film, said the institute decided to adopt the film because of its historical perspective.
The Americans also adopted the works of Solomon Osagie Alonge, one of Nigeria’s premier photographers to the Royal Court of Benin.
Imaseun, said Invasion 1897 and the works of Alonge which span a period of half-century and present a dynamic continuous record of the reigns of Oba Akenzua II (1933–78) and Oba Erediauwa (1979–till date) as well as the political and social events surrounding the Benin royal palace were used by the Institute to commemorate 50 years of African Art in its museum for African Art.
Speaking further, the celebrated director disclosed that plans have been concluded to officially release the film at cinemas across the West African sub-region on December 5.
This, he said, was in line with the film’s three core objectives, which are history, entertainment and education.
Lauding the distributors of the movie, Silverbird Distribution, Imasuen noted that it would be the first time they would be releasing a film simultaneously in two different countries.
“As far as they are concerned, this is their centenary film. They have assured me that they are giving it full Hollywood ratings in terms of presentation in the cinema and they are releasing it simultaneously in Nigeria and Ghana,” he said.
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