Filmmaker Ike Nnaebue was not the only one that returned from FESPACO with an award. Award winning filmmaker C.J Obasi returned from FESPACO with three awards for his well-helmed black and white fantasy film, Mami Wata. The film, which featured in the official competition category, received the PRIX DE LA CRITIQUE Pauline S. Vieyra (African Critics Award), MEILLEUR IMAGE (Cinematography Award) and the MEILLEUR DÉCOR (Set Design Award).
The FESPACO win is coming almost a month after the indigenously produced feature film from Nigeria was awarded the special jury prize for cinematography, after its world premiere in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition of the Sundance film festival in January 2023.
Produced by Oge Obasi and lensed by Brazilian born DP Lilis Soares, Mami Wata is a spiritual fable rooted in West African folklore. The film revolves round two sisters who must fight to save their people and restore the glory of a mermaid goddess to a land whose harmony had been threatened by outside elements. Set in a village called Iyi whose inhabitants pay tribute to and seek guidance from a healer and spiritual intermediary (Mama Efe played by Rita Edochie), Mami Wata peaks when after a mysterious illness begins to claim the lives of Iyi people, a local man (Kelechi Udegbe) starts to sow doubts about the healer’s ability to protect them. With the arrival of a rebel warlord (Emeka Amakeze) on the run from his violent past and the death of Mama Efe, a new status quo emerges in the village. It falls to the healer’s daughter, Zinwe (Uzoamaka Aniunoh), and protégé, Prisca (Evelyne Ily), to save the people of Iyi, setting up a conflict between the villagers’ traditional beliefs and a more modern, western way of life.
Sharing the news of the Sundance and FESPACO win on his social media handles, C.J Obasi wrote: “My Team, I love you all so much. You already know. Together, we made a film that is nothing, but a pure and uninhibited expression of love for film and for dark bodies. African Cinema will live forever. Thank you so much’.”
An elated Obasi told Moviedom that next stop for Mami Wata is the New York premiere at First Look 2023-Museum of the Moving Image (MoMI) and the Washington DC premiere at AFI Silver’s New African Film Festival.
