Peace Anyiam Osigwe is a writer, film maker and founder of the African Movie Academy Awards, AMAA. In this interview with Yetunde Oladeinde, she talks about the 2018 awards in Kigali, her passion for the arts, early life and potential in the industry.
What plans do you have for the awards this year?
This year is going to be the second time that the main event would be holding outside Nigeria. This year, it will hold in Kigali, Rwanda. AMAA is 14 and it’s been a long, hard road. There is a reason for keeping it going. I feel that a lot of things changed within the industry and I came along, especially in terms of quality control. Therefore, a lot of people say to us that we are always very choosy in making our nominations. Our reason for that is very simple. Form has one language, so the quality of a product should be able to pass the information for anybody to understand. You can’t just make a film because of the Nigerian audience; it should be the world’s audience. For me, it is important that the language of form is something that everybody can relate to. I think that is one of the reasons that the AMAA jury system is something that I have tried as much as possible to leave where it is. I am totally not involved in the screening process, which has had Shuaibu Hussain, as the chair of the screening committee in the last ten years.
What is the message in the book you are writing at the moment?
The book is about me and my journey in the creative industry. The working title at the moment is Driven by Passion.
What motivated you to write this book?
I think people have to kind of hear the fact that I started writing when I was nine years old. I want people to know my story and all the things that I do. I realise that sometimes it is important to tell your own story, in your own words. So, that you can also have young people realise that you don’t give up. You just have to keep dreaming and realising those dreams.
What were you writing about as a kid?
My mom said that I was always writing about the things that I didn’t like. I was brought up as an only girl. I had seven brothers and I found writing as a way of expressing myself, my thoughts and the different things around me. Even in school, things were different; there were only two black kids in my school.
So, I felt odd, learning and unlearning make-up because what they were using on their face was not what I could use on my face. I wrote poetry and I have two or three poetry books. There is one that is called the peace of my mind and another one. I also wrote a lot of articles.
Did living with seven brothers affect your outlook in life?
Yes, it did. I’m a total Tomboy. That was why my mom sent me to an all-girls boarding school.
Did that change your perspective about life?
Not really. At the end of the day, I still went home to my brothers. They affected my life more and then I was very close to my father too. My mom was the one that wanted me to be girly but I don’t think that I can be the girly, girly type.
What are some of the things that you share in common with your mom?
The only thing that I think I share in common with her is the fact that my mom is a lady. She is a perfect lady; she likes make-up, doing her hair, those things that I don’t really care about. However, the things that I learnt from her were her value system. She also likes cooking; making sure that your surroundings were clean and working hard. I think I learnt all that from her. She won’t agree that she is a workaholic, but she is.
She is still alive. She is 85 and she is still working. My mom and I are like cat and dog because I was closer to my father. When I lost my father, she was like ‘now, you are my friend.’ She actually made me study law, just to please her. I was actually doing film and she came to London and asked me do
Law. Can we say that you were daddy’s girl?
Yes, in all things. In my faith; my ability to just not be afraid, to take up challenges and letting me to be very independent. My dad made me extremely independent. I don’t know if that works in the Nigerian system for a woman. He also changed a lot of things. For instance, in the village, he built a place for me and people were surprised. But he said he wanted me to go into the village whenever I want to. So, those are the things that make me a daddy’s girl.
What do you cherish about your mom?
My mom, Dorothy Anyiam Osigwe, is the most forgiving human being I have ever met in my life. She can forgive anything. She would tell you that love conquers all. If you get angry with anybody, she would tell you to forgive that person. She has a large heart and she can give her last to anybody. She is not attached to anything. I learnt that from her. In addition, she is extremely prayerful. She comes from a very big family; they are eleven. She is a teacher and a philanthropist. Also, we used to live with my grandma; she died when she was 105.
What lessons has life taught you?
Life has taught me gratitude. A few years ago, I got sick; my skin changed colour. I just woke up and my skin started changing colour and just about finding out what it was, I lost my brother, Michael, who was running the Foundation. He went for something and then, they shot him. So, my perspectives in life changed totally in terms of living our life just as it is and in turn I realised that everyday could be your last. I don’t think anything can change you, more than something that is significant. He had just been with me in the hospital.
When you go through such experiences like that then live your life for the best; don’t live it for anybody else. Don’t try to prove any point to anybody but just be as good as you can to the next person.
Fourteen years after you founded Africa Movie Academy Awards, AMAA, have you achieved your goals?
I think AMAA is work in progress, but I think we are getting there. I am hoping that it is setting itself up to run itself. It is not so much about me. I want people to deal with AMAA as a brand. It is very difficult in Nigeria, when you want your brand not to be associated with you.
Let’s talk about some memorable moments with AMAA
The first year, the hall was still being built a few days to the event. The fact that we couldn’t get enough hotels in Bayelsa, people staying in rooms without air conditioners. Just the fact that the hall was still being worked on, all has stuck with us. In terms of the different things that you experience when you are preparing for an event, being on the East\West road, travelling, and the journeys on that road. Anyway, you never had any accident and so you are grateful. It is not easy keeping a brand going for fifteen years especially in Nigeria.
We would have a roundtable in Kigali and one of the issues we would be discussing is distribution. How do we get to see our own films? We must get to the point where some of these films are given chances to be seen in our cinema houses. It is not good to make up the minds of Nigerian audience, whether this film would be watched or not. For instance, South African films have issues with our Nigerian cinema houses; our decisions as to whether those films would be watched or not.
The stereotyping that we have doesn’t help if you want to bring a major film into the cinema. I would say that the opportunity is something that we are working on. If nothing, the media should see the top five movies that are in competition. This way they can understand our justifications. What they are looking for is not something that an average person is looking for. At the bottom and at the back end, there is the orientation.
If a film that wins cannot travel post AMAA, there is a major problem. What it means is that all the jury members would not know what to do. What I keep saying to film makers in Nigeria is that, ‘you have to bring yourself out. When you do this, you get the international mileage.’ Here, you immediately premier it and release it for the cinema. This way you limit your ability to make that film travel, that is the truth.
Once you show it, and people start to comment on it, it’s limited. With due respect to the Nigerian audience, you have three sets. There are audiences in Nigeria that would never understand certain films, that is the reality. And to those people, they are not looking at the quality control that you are looking at. So some films appeal to a particular clientele. We must never try to generalise our audience because of the way the average Nigerian has been brought up.
What are the things that keep you going?
I think that also goes back to the title of my book, Driven by Passion, especially by my creative industry. I think I am a creative being from birth because I do a lot of different creative things. Apart from writing and creating films, I do a number of things with my brother. He does a lot of artworks. My mom used to trade in fabrics and I took over from her. So, I always do things that relate to that.
In the entertainment scene, I worked with PSquare at the beginning. I think they are the most amazing talents and I think that at this stage they just have to come back as brothers first and foremost.
Are you helping to bring them back together?
I will always be there for them. They know that and we are family. Paul is playing for us in Kigali.
I always mentor young people in the creative industry. I used to make beads, sets and cushion covers, soft furnishing.
