Critically-acclaimed documentary THE SUPREME PRICE about women in Nigeria to celebrate its European Premiere on the anniversary of Nigeria’s independence.
The timely and powerful, critically-acclaimed documentary THE SUPREME PRICE about women and the pro-democracy movement in Nigeria, will have its European Premiere on October 1st – on the anniversary of Nigeria’s independence at the Raindance Film Festival 2014. Directed and Produced by award-winning filmmaker Joanna Lipper (Growing Up Fast, Little Fugitive, Inside Out: Portraits of Children), the film is one of six films competing for the Best Documentary Award.
Having won the Gucci Tribeca Spotlighting Women Documentary Award and been officially selected for over 11 international film festivals on five continents including Human Rights Watch Film Festival 2014 and AFI Docs 2014, the film’s African premiere is soon to take place this Saturday 27th September at Lights Camera Africa! Film Festival in Lagos, Nigeria. The film will also play atAfrica International Film Festival in Calabar, Nigeria in November and at Film Africa in London, at the Hackney Picturehouse on 6th November at 6:30pm.
In 1993 Nigeria elected M.K.O. Abiola as president in a historic vote that promised to end years of military dictatorship. Shortly after the election, Abiola was imprisoned as another military regime seized power, and his wife, Kudirat, took over the leadership of the pro-democracy movement, organizing strikes and marches and winning international attention for the Nigerian struggle. Because of this work, she too became a target and was assassinated in 1996.
Director Joanna Lipper elegantly dovetails past and present as she tells this story through the eyes of Hafsat Abiola, who was about to graduate from Harvard when her mother was murdered. Her father died in prison two years later under mysterious circumstances. Determined not to let her parents’ democratic ideals die with them, Hafsat returns to Nigeria after years in exile and is at the forefront of a progressive movement to empower women and dismantle the patriarchal structure of Nigerian society.
THE SUPREME PRICE provides a unprecedented look inside of Africa’s most populous nation, exposing the tumultuous, violent history of a deeply entrenched corrupt culture of governance where a tiny circle of political elites monopolize billions of dollars worth of oil revenue while the masses remain impoverished.
Filmmaker Joanna Lipper said, “I’m delighted to be having our European Premiere at Raindance Film Festival on 1st October, a significant date which marks 54 years of Nigerian Independence. This is an ideal moment in time for viewers to contemplate Nigeria’s complex, historic evolution as a nation as well as an opportunity for me as a filmmaker to raise awareness and spark provocative discussions about women’s rights in present-day Nigeria. During the Q&A I will be joined by a representative from Women for Women International, one of several organisations I have partnered with on the impact and outreach campaign for the film.”
Raindance Film Festival Screenings: Wednesday 1st October, 6.30pm at VUE Piccadilly and Thursday 2rd October, 1.20pm.
Here is the trailer for this must-see film:
