Directed by Abiodun Bankole, the premiere will hold during the prestigious Lagos International Film Festival.

Actress Kenny Kujore, Adegboyega Sosanya and Titilope Adeboye (Ajoke Amodedun) are the leading actors of the movie.

The movie, Ito Okunrin, is a romantic drama that has a lot of humour and at the same time lots of passion, intrigue, and power struggles.

Ito Okunrin is also a film on domestic violence with the man at the receiving end this time.

Benson Komolafe, played by Adegboyega Sosanya, is the abused man who falls in love with a young beautiful lady.

Though a Yoruba language film, it deviates from the run of the mill films made in Yoruba which are told in a predictable way from beginning.

It is told in a way that the audience keeps guessing where the story is headed next until the end.

Tickets are available at Ariya Tickets.

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A lot of the new entrants into the business of motion picture production in Nigeria think that the business of filmmaking started with Nollywood. It did not. Nigeria had an indigenous film industry that dates back to the 70’s. Then, filmmakers such as Dr. Ola Balogun, Late Chief Adeyemi Afolayan, late Chief Hubert Adedeji Ogunde, and Chief Eddie Ugbomah amongst many others made films on celluloid either on 35mm colour or 16mm colour.  But while the exploits of most of these pioneer filmmakers may have been fairly documented in some of the early books written on the film industry in Nigeria, notably Francoise Balogun’s The Cinema in Nigeria and Professor Hyginus Ekwuazi’s Film in Nigeria, there have been very little mention about a period in the history of the Nigerian film industry where making films using the reversal technology reigned. That was the period of the 80’s when filmmakers such as the late Yemi Meshioye led the crew at Meshfilms Limited to pioneer the unconventional shooting of feature films with reversal film stocks as opposed to negative film stocks which was standard for making films at the time.

It is a part of the untold story of that period in the evolution of the film industry that is told in From Reversal Filmmaking To God’s Bedroom and Back… Untold Story of the Nollywood Revolution, the book by the accomplished filmmaker Matthew Simpa who was a member of the Meshfilms family and a key figure in the production of some of the film projects by Meshfilms. Those films including Lori-Ere, Ijagbemi, Gbegede Gbina and Iji Aye unarguably became pathfinders for filmmaking in Nigeria.

This book by Simpa is probably the second book on the Nigerian film industry of the 70’s and 80’s devoted to the career journey of a versatile thoroughbred professional with ramified experience and multi-faceted professional training.

I am familiar with most of the books that have been written and published on the Nigerian film industry. This book by Simpa is probably the second book on the Nigerian film industry of the 70’s and 80’s devoted to the career journey of a versatile thoroughbred professional with ramified experience and multi-faceted professional training. The first of this kind of work that I have read is the book by the late legendary filmmaker Eddie Ugbomah titled Eddie Ugbomah. But unlike the book by Chief Ugbomah, which is an autobiographical account, Simpa saves the full account of his life for another publication and shares just the story of his career journey pre-Meshfilms, his personal recollection of how they made ‘magic’ with films like Iji Aye at Meshfilms and then his journey post-Meshfilms in this book. The result is a very personal story of those moments that shaped his dream, about the field experiences that sharpened those dreams and about the struggle to fulfill them. It is the story of a hardworking, humble and an honest personality who should be righty acknowledged for his invaluable contribution to the evolution of the Nigerian visual media industry that is today a global household name.

The contributions of this book are manifold. But two things particularly stand out for me. First is that through an account of his career, the author offers a very resourceful and highly engaging book that lends tremendous insight to the creative exploits of Meshfilms and that of other filmmakers of the era of reversal films. Secondly, each chapter of the book is lucidly presented to justify the competence and professional experience of the author in filmmaking.

Although there are still so many efforts to be recorded regarding this period of Nigerian cinema (and the author makes no pretence about writing a definitive book on that period and history of Nigerian film industry), we must commend Simpa for taking this bold step in documenting a significant aspect of the story, which I consider central to our understanding and appreciation of the history of the Nigerian film industry. Although usually a labourious task, but am sure Simpa considers it an honour and a great responsibility to add to the growing body of works that are helping to define the emerging trends with the vibrant Nigerian film industry.

The ultimate value of the book for me is that it points us both backwards to the past and forward to our future. I recommend it to everyone who is interested in the history of the Nigerian reversal film tradition especially and in the history of the Nigerian film industry before Nollywood.

I can imagine that Simpa’s saddening thought and our own thoughts too will be that nearly all the reversal films and even the films that were produced on bigger gauges may not have been preserved for posterity, I think we should be consoled by the fact that one of the key players of that period has at least captured and told a compelling story of the essence of that period in our filmmaking history.

I believe that this book is a valuable contribution to the field. The ultimate value of the book for me is that it points us both backwards to the past and forward to our future. I recommend it to everyone who is interested in the history of the Nigerian reversal film tradition especially and in the history of the Nigerian film industry before Nollywood. It is a welcome addition to the growing body of works on the Nigerian cinema and I feel honoured to be able to greet this new book in its opening pages.

*Husseini, PhD, is Senior Teaching/Research Fellow, Department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos, Akoka, Yaba, Lagos.

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Simpa is the head of the film production department of the entertainment company.

He said the company had already acquired state of the arts video production equipment and that discussions were already going on with top grade Nollywood producers in Lagos, Asaba and Port Harcourt.

His words:  “With Ben Auto Entertainment, I finally get the opportunity to take my dream to the apogee of my career. Ben Auto has been in business for decades. It has its tentacles in the automobile sales business, event and hospitality, music, education and so on. I believe my experience when combined with the experience and business acumen of my Managing Director Prince Ben Ukadike will result in yet another revolution in the movie/video production sector.”

Simpa has always been in the forefront of revolution in his over 30 years of film making.

After his exploits with Meshfilms Limited in producing celluloid films on reversal film stocks in the mid 1980s to early 1990s, he joined the evangelical home movies train in 1995 and helped create a growing evangelical film making sector.

In 2014, he produced Outside the Box, yet another revolutionary Christian movie that is still widely acclaimed six years later.

In March this year, he joined newly created Ben Auto Entertainments as head of the film production department.

The company’s main goal, Simpa said, was to enter into collaboration with interested movie/video producers to do joint productions.

“Collaboration is the way to go after Covid-19 crisis,” he stressed, adding that “it will be unwise for individuals to single handedly bear the brunt of a movie production. Sharing the burden will result in improved quality and ability to compete on the global scene.”

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The founder of the film and video production company, Christine Madeleine Botoku, made this known in an interview with FrontPage.

According to her, the training which was held at Mercyland Hotel, Ipokia Road, Idiroko, Ogun State, would also make smuggling and other illegal businesses less attractive to youths.

Her words: “One of the objectives of the training is to open the eyes of the youths to opportunities in the creative industry so they can shift attention away from smuggling and other illicit businesses.”

She said with the training on entrepreneurship, the youths were encouraged to set up their own businesses instead of making themselves job seekers.

She added that among other things, the trainees were taught modern techniques of video production, photography, acting, directing producing and video editing.

The participants also took part in the production of a short movie.

Professionals who spoke on different aspects of production at the occasion were veteran photographer, Dr. Bony Botoku; veteran film maker Matthew Simpa; television and movie actor, Raph Niyi Stephen of Awon Aladun De fame and broadcaster, Dare Best Alabi.

Founder of Stedafilm International, Botoku, was also on hand to lecture.

Certificates of participation were issued to the appreciative students at the end of the programme.

Botoku promised to carry out more of such workshop to ensure that the youths benefit more.

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Organised by Stedafilm International owned by Christine Madeleine Botoku, the workshop will hold at Mercyland Hotel, Ipokia Road, Idiroko, Ogun State.

According to Botoku (also known as Modupe), a local of Idiroko, who started her film making career in Nigeria and was involved in the production of popular video films, mostly directed by Matthew Simpa in the ‘90s,  the workshop will open opportunities for youths in the area of film and video production.

The event will bring to town veteran film maker, Matthew Simpa; top Nollywood actor, Raph Stevens of Awon Aladun De fame; ace broadcaster, Dare Best Alabi; Dr. Bonny Botoku, ace photographer and consultant for The African Drums Festival held annually in Abeokuta, Ogun State; Nuhu Dalyop; an award winning Nollywood film maker and Mr. Jide Olaniyi, National President of the Video Producers Association of Nigeria, VIFPAN.

The first of its kind in the western border area, the workshop will teach participants basic techniques in video production, photography, acting, directing and camera operation.

Says Botoku: “My vision is to impart knowledge onto the youth in this area. I also want to steer them away from illegal activities such as smuggling and encourage them to engage in more dignifying and productive businesses like creativity.”

The basic training is also expected to open the eyes of the youth to opportunities available to them at Alari, a budding film village a few kilometers from Idiroko where an average of five films are shot every week.

It would be recalled that Christine Madeleine Botoku made the first Christian feature film in Benin Republic – Yatin.

Released in 2002, it made a great impact all over the country and even in several Francophone countries.

About twenty years later, Stedafilm International is set to add another feather to its cap with the workshop.

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