New movie on domestic abuse – “To Freedom” premiers on Friday

A movie, focusing on domestic abuse and obsession and entitled: “To Freedom”, premiers in cinemas on Friday.

Our correspondent reports that lead cast in the movie are Osas Ighodaro, Etim Effiong, Jide Kosoko, Elvina Ibru, Beverly Osu and Eso Dike.

The producer, Mr Kevwe Ogunje, said at a private screening of the movie on Thursday in Lagos said it took two years to produce it after its conception in 2020.

He explained that the production took two years because the crew was intentional with the script writing and detailed in directing it, to bringing out the best in the production.

He noted that the storyline focused on domestic abuse to re-emphasise it as a societal challenge needing to be curbed.

“Everyone goes through domestic abuse in one way or the other. It could be physical or emotional and they are often traumatic and we need to start talking about ways to confront and escape from it.

“This is an educative and entertaining film, attached with other values of life.

“The central theme of the movie is that there is a way out, which means that we can always walk out of every mess of life into freedom.

“Just like the current hardship in the country and the upcoming elections, the way out is for Nigerians to get their PVCs to vote the right candidates as their leaders.

“The production cost at N50 million was huge because the cast was composed of “A list” actors and the location and other production inputs were top notch,” he said.

Ogunje said he was able to raise funds through crowd funding and was hopeful to recoup the fund at the box office.

“Our major challenges during production were the Lagos traffic gridlocks, confrontations with youths at shooting locations known as “omo onile” and peculiarities attached to working with superstars, who were five in number.

“Human and personnel management is a problem but we pulled through because the cast and crew also believed in the story. This is because once a story is good, the work is half done,” he added.

Ogunje lauded the script writer/co-producer, TigerFireRose, the film director, crew and cast for giving their best to produce a worthwhile project.

The film Director, Biodun Stephen said the storyline was inspired by true life events; hence the project was treated with all sense of dedication because it was someone’s true life story.

Stephen said the mutual collaboration between the producer, co-producer and the crew enabled her to focus basically on the directing part of the movie, which made her work easy and interesting.

“I am so glad that we are all here watching the film and happy with the efforts we have put in.

“It was a journey, as we had a whole lot of conversations with the cast to bring out their best; took some artistic decisions and I am glad that everything that we decided paid off,” she added.

The director advised couples to shun domestic abuse or any form of abuse in their marriages as their lives were more important.

Beverly Osu, who played the character of a Therapist in the movie, said the story line was intriguing and every character on the set was highly distinct.

“I am very excited that we brought this movie to life. It was very exciting; the story line was beautiful and I can’t imagine a better story,” she said.

Osu said she was comfortable acting the role of a therapist as she had been doing that unprofessionally in her private circle by counselling friends on regular basis.

She charged Nigerians to be wary of their mental health and attend to it when they are depressed or overwhelmed with life challenges and expectations.