With the increasing spate of mental illness among the youths in the country, one of Nigeria’s film producers, Bukky Campbell, is offering a 90-minute movie entitled: Unbreakable, as a guide to assist the society in dealing with such challenges. The movie, which will be premiered at the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, is a story about mental health, love, husband and wife who just got married.
Unbroken Partnership Ltd, producers of Unbreakable, in partnership with The Institute of Arts and Culture, University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, will screen the new movie on September 21 at the CRAB, Uniport. Unbreakable is written by renowned arts writer, Sola Osofisan and directed by Ben Chiadika. Filmed on locations in and around Lagos, it features movie stars and frontline actors such as OC Ukeje, A’rese Emokpae, Richard Mofe-Damijo, Ebele Okaro-Onyiuke, Bimbo Manuel, Wendsy Lawal, John Dumelo and Uche Mac-Auley.
The producers of the movie hope to highlight the ongoing conversation on the state of mental healthcare in Nigeria and the sub-continent. Unbreakable tells how the couple, who were returning from honeymoon, was faced with challenges of mental illness and how the husband sought treatment.
Speaking during a preview session of the movie in Lagos, Campbell disclosed that the production team adopted the unusual method in producing the movie.
“We had to stay away completely from glitz and glamour, which are what people are used to in the industry. At different points, we still had questions about no makeup, why is she looking like this? But, the truth is mental health is not glamorous. It is not pretty. It is not beautiful. At some points in time, if you want to show the rawness of what it is, then, you will need to be true to the story. We were in a frame, and we decided not to astray from that frame, because, in order to potentially tell the story, we had to forget every other thing that did not relate with the story. That includes lifestyles that most Nigerians want to see in movies,” she said.
On how the movie can serve as therapy to target audience, she said for mental illness, what works for one doesn’t work for others, adding that there is a peculiarity to seeking help to mental health because there is no one side to it all. “What works in this situation might not work in other situations. But, the most important thing is conversation. And once the conversation starts, we are hoping to start it and take it from one place to another,” she added.
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