Like any other film, the main challenge is finance as this is a very capital intensive industry. We wanted the ethos of the film of working together to be reflected in the funding of the film and hence we rallied family and friends, locally and internationally to give us little donations. We also received donations from the SA government which has a very good mechanism to back the film industry through various departments as this is classified as a growth sector in the nation.
Other than M.O.G what other films have you made? Using money I made acting as a student, I completed three short films: The Kiss of Milk, The Nightwalkers and The Caretaker. In 1999, I wrote my first feature film God is African starring Hakeem KaeKazim. My father always says that we should write what we know and so the film reflected a Nigerian student coming to SA and raising awareness
The film has been successful in conveying the message to a worldwide audience. In addition, the entire cast won the Best Ensemble award at the Monaco International Film Festival and Fana Mokoena was named the Best Supporting Actor for his role in the film at the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) 2012. What awards have YOU won in your acting and film making career? I was fortunate to have been nominated for the AMAA’s although I didn’t win. This may sound cliché but I was very pleased to be nominated because that means someone has thought about the work that you have done and invited you to the table (even if you may not get to eat). I try and not think too much about awards as I am not one to place too much emphasis on accolades. That said, I was very pleased to win the Fleur du Cap Award for Most Promising Student in the play Sunjata in 1995 primarily because my late mother was in the audience when I received it. I was also very pleased to win the 2007 Standard Bank Young Artist Award in the film category.
regarding the assassination of author and activist Ken Saro Wiwa in Nigeria. When it premiered in 2003, I was struggling with personal loss after my mother died from cancer and decided to re-prioritise my life. That was when I started a production Femi (Fabian Adeoye Lojede)
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