"In Nigeria, it's always the woman's fault" - filmmaker Chika Anadu on 'B for Boy'

MM: Can you tell us a little bit about your film in your own words?

CA: It’s called B for Boy and it’s a contemporary drama set in Nigeria that follows a woman’s desperate need for a male child. It examines the discrimination of women in the name of culture and religion.

 

This is the type of story that would not be told that often on this side of the world. Did you want to expose this issue to an international audience?

When I was writing the script, I know that I was putting in things that would not need to be explained to a Nigerian audience but that wouldn’t be familiar to a foreign one, so I did put in a few extra lines of dialogue to explain things. However, I did know that the subject wasn’t so unfamiliar because I talked to people to different countries and they too told me that similar things to this happen in their country all of the time. The idea behind B for Boy was to expose the situation within the Igbo community.

 

Where did the inspiration for this story come from?

Being an Igbo and a Nigerian myself, I can tell you that while this thing never happened to anyone I was really close to I knew that it happened to people around me all the time and even distant relatives. Everyone knows about it and it’s not spoken about like there is anything wrong about it. This was always strange to me, because on the contrary I always thought this was insane! So for me it was important to shine a light on this subject, but also to do so without judging. I really tried not to judge the culture that elevates the male gender far above the female gender and that puts pressure on the female to perform even though, when you think about science, it’s the man that provides the Y chromosomes. So actually, it’s the man’s fault. But in Nigeria, it’s always the woman’s fault.

 

I found it to be a very intimate film. How did you try to get that feeling across?

It’s a story of love. It comes from a setting of love, whether it comes from the principal couple in the film or from other places. While I was writing the film, I always thought that everything would have to be handheld. That way the camera could follow things of interest rather than standing still on a tripid. That way, it would be more organic. Also, I always knew that we would have financial constraints and we wouldn’t have time for a billion set ups, so the camera would always need to be able to move. Using handheld also meant that we would be able to take the audience on a personal journey visually as well.

 

It also makes it more realistic.

It is, I agree, it makes it more real.

 

The performances are quite strong. Can you tell us a little bit about the acting?

Well, the script is very character driven so I was very reliant on the actors and I was very willing to meet with people who could give me what I felt, particularly with the lead actress (Uche Nwadili). Funnily enough, everyone who is in the film, I had never seen anything they had been on before and I still haven’t actually – I have only seen them in my film. Uche Nwadili was introduced to me by the actress who plays her mother in law. She walked in on a rainy day, and that day no one had come for auditions because I did the casting myself. She came in and she was just stunning, she was so beautiful. Although I didn’t have a particular picture of the character, as soon as she walked in I knew it was her. And I prayed to myself – please let her be able to act! And I gave her a scenario and she killed it so then I knew! The thing was that she was the last person that I cast, I had already cast all the other roles and without her I would not have been able to make the film because this was the last day I had left to audition people. So I got very lucky, she was amazing. I think one of the reasons why she was so good was that she had never really starred in anything, only had very little parts in other films. So because she was so new, she was open. She wouldn’t always understand the motivations of her character or what her character was feeling, but once I’d tell her she would give me the right performance.

 

It’s funny you talk about the inexperience of your cast, because one of the most touching elements of the film comes from the intimate interaction between the characters.

Yes, they got to bond. Her, her husband in the film (Nonso Odogwu) and the woman in the end whose baby she tries to adopt. I had them three take an acting workshop, because in Nigeria we have an theatre acting background history, so the acting is always very over the top. I wasn’t going to have that. So I had them take a workshop to tone it down and learn what it was to act for film. So, they were able to bond and became close friends, especially the husband and wife actors so in the end it was all very natural for them to hug and touch because they had been doing it for two weeks while they were learning how to act in a film at that workshop.

 

Speaking of the husband figure, he is presented in the film as a ‘modern male’. Is this contrast between the older generation and the newer generation something that particularly interested you?

Yeah. The two main themes that are explored in this film are the uneasy co-existance of modern and traditional culture in Nigeria. A woman is encouraged to have great education and go as far as she pleases but you must still conform. You must still get married, have children and in my particular culture, have a male child. And if you haven’t done that, your other accomplishments mean nothing to anyone. The second theme is that these injustices against women are sustained and perpetrated by other women, which is ironic. The victims become victimisers. It’s almost like they are sort of annoyed and angry at the fact that someone would even dare to rise against the system.

 

Was it hard to get a film with such a thematic weight off the ground?

What was hard about it was getting the film financed. This film was pretty much entirely financed by my mother and my producing partner’s parents. We couldn’t get money for anything and it was painful. I wrote the script while on a Cannes residency with the Cinefondation and I thought that because I had this connection, everything would be easier for me. I was feeling like I was the chosen one. But it means nothing, you know? Once you do something and it’s over, it’s over. There’s only so much money for first time directors and there are a lot of us who want to make their first film, so you almost have no shot at whatever money is there. So, I was lucky that my family and my producing partner’s family had spare change for us.

 

So even all the acclaimed shorts that you made didn’t help?

No, because it’s a different audience. You find out that no matter how lauded your short film is it means nothing. I’m sure there are exceptions, but most of the time it means nothing. The idea behind it is that just because you can hold the audience’s attention for fifteen to thirty minutes it doesn’t mean that you can hold people’s attention for an hour and a half or two hours. It means nothing.

 

So what is next in line for you now that you have made your first feature and it has been presented at the London Film Festival?

I have a few stories in my head but I haven’t had time, or honestly haven’t had the desire to develop them. I’m not a writer. I wrote this and my other shorts because I think that when you are starting out you have no other choice, unless you’re luck and you have a great writer as a friend. I don’t really want to write my own stuff anymore, unless I find a producing partner. So, those stories are sort of on the shelf for now. But over the next year and a half, I would like to do commercials or adverts and TV series. TV is really hot right now and I’d like to get more credits under my belt and get more experience as a director. And to finally get paid for once! I have been directing for four years and I have never gotten paid, ever! So, if anyone is reading this and has a job for me – I’m available!

 

Click here for my short review of the film. B for Boy has at the moment an average rating of 8.8/10 on iMDB.com, but still no international distribution. Does that seem right? Contact me on ayroli125@gmail.com and let me know what you think!