Through the eyes of it’s lead character, “NAIJA” short film details the ordeals of an average Nigerian

NAIJA is another collaborative effort between Davidson Ogujiuba and photographer, Obinna Obioma. Both creatives brainstormed about the project for months as they wanted to make a movie about the current state of things in the country without being overly political.

Speaking more on the movie, Davidson shared, “We also wanted a film that was thoroughly relatable. I wanted every single Nigerian to be able to relate to the film in some capacity, and I used to banter with the creative director about how the average Nigerian could have easily written the screenplay for the movie “Naija” as I went for simple and reliable cinematography techniques, more importantly we wanted the film to be free, so we decided to release the film on instagram an app everyone has access to. Naija is a film through the Eyes of a female character called Niké, it uses a lot of internal monologue to display what the character was feeling during various events throughout the short-film and I’m not going to giveaway a spoiler go watch the short film its free.”

Davidson further added that, “As a film maker and cinematographer, you want to create work you believe is relevant, the fastest way to make relevant work is to look around you, your environment, and ask yourself, how can I create something worth watching? I’m not saying this is the only blueprint to a good film or a relevant film but it’s a start. NAIJA is a relevant film because it’s core is what every Nigerian can relate to something in it.”

The production wanted the main character to communicate in an internal monologue throughout the film which was shot in a low angle, to make her look powerful even though she was constantly going through the trials of being Nigerian.