Saturday, 04 June 2011 00:00 By Sony Neme Saturday Magazine - Celebrity
.More Global Recognition For Nollywood

By the time you read this story, star actress, Omoni Oboli, will be in Ukraine. She is expected to spend three weeks shooting a movie with one of Ukraine’s most popular artistes. Omoni stood out after a rigorous screening exercise that had the likes of Genevieve Nnaji, Omotola Jola-Ekeinde, Stella Demasus and Mary Eboka among other celebrities on parade.

The mouth-watering deal (jealously concealed) brokered by Zeb Ejiro (OON) with his Ukraine partners, Andrea and Igor, arguably, ranks as the first of such in the annals of the Nollywood industry. A visibly excited Omoni took us through her thoughts about the industry that has brought her fame and rewards. She took time off her photo shoot to speak with Sony Neme at a location in Lekki Peninsula, Lagos State, recently. Excerpts

Congrats for the Ukraine deal?

You are already aware? (laughs). Wao! Thanks, my brother. Out of the star-studded auditioned, you emerged best for an international movie to be shot in Europe, what does it mean to you?

I feel totally blessed for them to have chosen me, of all the people that they saw, for the job. It is a huge blessing. I don’t know what transpired between them and my colleagues. But for me, I have been interacting with them on the Internet and through e-mail, then their partners here. The directors and executive producer, from Ukraine, finally came into the country and we met with them; and I must have made a good impression on them (laughs). We had met them on a Sunday, again on a Monday and the deal was sealed.

Can you take us through the juicy deal?

Aah! What do you want to know? Ehm, we are going to shoot the movie in Ukraine in June (this month). It is really big, I must say. It is a huge project. I am going to be there for three weeks. I am co-starring with the biggest musical talent in Ukraine. That is the much I can say for now.

With what is about to unfold in your career, what are your plans for the next stage?

I have always worked hard to take it to the next level. I always wanted to do bigger and better movies than I have done in the past. The whole of last year everybody was talking about Anchor Baby that was the biggest movie in the industry. Now that I have seen it all from Nigerian cinema, I am looking forward to another big project. That is what I have always prayed for, something that is more challenging and rewarding. That is exactly what I have just gotten. I am really excited about it.

Does the Mosogar influence have any role in your budding career?

That is my background; honestly I can’t say, because I was not born there and I didn’t grow up there. Yea, my dad is from there. After four years, as a kid in Benin, we moved to Warri. My mum got a job at Aladja. I grew up in Aladja Steel Company Staff Estate, in Warri, Delta State. It was a nice little community where everybody basically knew every one. I had my Primary to secondary education, everything. Ironically, I have not been keeping touch with base for a couple of years, since my mummy died. So, there is really no one to go back to there.

How would you describe Nollywood at this point in time?

It has been good. It is different, because as a teenager, I had a brief stint for about two years in the industry. Everything has changed now. We have, basically, bigger movies in recent years. Now, we have such movies as Figurins, which I starred in as well, Anchor Baby, which I featured in, as well as wave making Ije, and a couple of other movies that have come out in recent years. It has been a big hit. We never had our movies going to the cinemas before. But now, we are not only at cinemas, but competing with Hollywood movies. That is really big thing for Nollywood. It is better now than before. The pay is also a bit better.

Some of your colleagues have showcased their other talents, either in music or movie production, are we expecting any from you?

Definitely not music, but movies! I am actually in the process of cooking up something. It is going to be a romantic comedy. It is going to be a good story, and not insulting anyone’s intelligence. Not a real life experience, anyway. This much I can assure you.

Can you make a critique of your roles in movies and tell us which one you really expressed yourself better in?

I think for every actor, every single movie you are in (when you sit back to watch it) and if you are a good critic of yourself, you will know that you would have done some parts better. May be you should have smiled this way or frowned that way. So, you will always want to do better with every movie. Be that as it is, I really like some of my movies, such as the most recent one Anchor Baby. I believe I did well in that movie.

I got the Best Actress Award at the recent Harlem International Movie Awards. There were movies from all over the world. I also won the best actress award at the Los Angeles Movie Awards. For me, that is really big, because I don’t think any Nigerian has won an award that huge.

What would you want to be remembered for?

I want people to look back and say, ‘Wao, she touched her generation for good. She changed life with her movie roles, also with her charity works and everything that she did. Though I am in the process of registering one, I work with other charity organizations on breast cancer and fibroid. On my own I am going to focus more on under-privileged kids. Don’t ask me why everybody is on kids and women (laughs), because it is easier for men to take care of themselves. And I think that men will be happier if their women and kids are taken care of.

Do you have any message to your fans?

I will say keep watching my movies. I will ensure that I do movies that you won’t be ashamed of. You won’t watch any and say, ‘Oh, why did she do this’. I never, ever regret roles that I play in movies because I choose my scripts. It depends on the script and the story, but I have never done any role that my husband tells me he didn’t like.

As a country, we have choking moral issues that are a burden to the society; how can we make a difference?

I think we, moviemakers have a huge role to play in changing our society for good. So, we the movie called should encourage moral education through our scripts and stories, like Ikuru, that I participated in, which is now in cinema; it centered on young people. There are three senior characters in the movie. They went through all kinds of things, peer pressure and undue parental control. It is a movie that every family has to watch, as there are things everybody in the family can take away from it. It came with lots of lessons why you don’t just give in to peer pressure. For parents, they need to know that they don’t have undue control over their children. There are ways you control a child and she turns out to do the opposite of what you want. Issues like prostitution among others were addressed in the movie and that could help to move the country forward positively.

How best can the industry be improved on?

We need to learn, we need to go to school. I mean our crewmembers: directors, producers, lighting and sounds. We have lots of challenges in key areas and I believe we need to learn. You don’t have to go to any institution and leave out your business. There are courses on-line that you can hook up, that can actually better your career, as you can’t keep doing something same way all through; even when people are complaining.

There are lots of rooms for improvement. There is also this problem of piracy, which is as a result of lack of good distribution framework that gives room for piracy. With distribution problem tackled, the issue of piracy will be drastically curtailed. That is where government attention is needed, because if our distribution is good, people won’t have any problem investing in movies. We need more cinemas, because if we have more of them spread across the country, investors can make good returns before movies go on DVD. In this way, you cut off the pirates.

How would you access people’s attitude to leisure?

I think Nigerians need to learn a little more about relaxation. We need to learn how to take time off and go to the cinemas, and watch Nigerian movies with our families. That actually is one of the best ways to keep your family together. You need to go there and see things that will make you laugh. A lot of Nigerians work so hard, all they do is work. They need a little time to play, because all work and no play make Jack a dull boy.

Back to your base, what is the reception like?

I am well celebrated in Delta State. I am not just a Lagos celebrity. My state government has been fantastic. I go there often, as I like going to where I am celebrated. My governor is pro-art, so we are very well celebrated in my state.

I think for every actor, every single movie you are in (when you sit back to watch it) and if you are a good critic of yourself, you will know that you would have done some parts better. May be you should have smiled this way or frowned that way. So, you will always want to do better with every movie. Be that as it is, I really like some of my movies, such as the most recent one Anchor Baby. I believe I did well in that movie.

I got the Best Actress Award at the recent Harlem International Movie Awards. There were movies from all over the world. I also won the best actress award at the Los Angeles Movie Awards. For me, that is really big, because I don’t think any Nigerian has won an award that huge.

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