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By Juliet Ebirim

It was indeed a night of pomp and culture last Saturday, as celebrities resplendently dressed in cultural attires thronged Terra Kulture, Lagos for the premiere of Love Castle.

Produced and written by Beatrice Funke Ogunmola, Love Castle is a captivating story of culture interwoven with disability and a long-held African culture of silence surrounding taboos.

It tells the story of Adetutu who had to leave her husband and daughter back in Houston Texas, USA, against her wish and that of her husband, to become a Regent in Nigeria at the death of her father.

The cascading events that follow result in secrets being revealed. Adetutu is trapped in the web of emotions and culture, with deadening taboos staring her in the face.

“I have always wanted to tell a story about the Nigerian culture in a positive way, to introduce Nigerian culture to my people in the United States.

There is so much negativity about us and over there, Nigerians are alleged to be scammers and fraudsters. I also wanted to address the issue of disability, to change people’s perception in this regard” Ogunmola who is based in the US said.

Directed by Desmond Elliot, the star-studded movie which features Kehinde Bankole, Jide Kososko, Lateef Adedimeji, Zack Orji, Late Rachel Oniga, Desmond Elliott, Femi Adebayo Salami, Halima Abubakar, Jumoke George, and Beatrice Funke Ogunmola was shot in Ibadan Nigeria in November 2019, and in Houston Texas USA, in February 2020. The USA filming was completed just two weeks before the pandemic lockdown of 2020 began.

Love Castle which was officially released Friday, September 10, 2021 has gotten six award nominations at Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival, TINFF 2021 including Best Film Africa, Best Film Nollywood, Best Actress – Africa Film: Kehinde Bankole, Best Movie Producer: Beatrice Funke Ogunmola, Best African Female Filmmaker: Beatrice Funke Ogunmola and Best Movie Director – Africa: Desmond Elliott.

Vanguard News Nigeria