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Elesin Oba, The King's Horseman
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Wikipedia article
'Elesin Oba, The King's Horseman' is the screen adaptation by Biyi Bandele of Wole Soyinka's 'Death and the King's Horseman', a stage play he wrote while in Cambridge, where he was a fellow at Churchill College during his political exile from Nigeria, and it is based on a real incident that took place in Nigeria during British Colonial rule.
Plot
The film is based on a true story and is set in Oyo State, southwestern Nigeria. The king has just died, and as tradition demands Elesin Oba, the King's horseman, must perform ritual suicide in order to join his deceased king in the afterlife so that the king may gain unhindered passage into the land of the gods, thus preventing calamity from befalling the community. Elesin Oba's sexual appetites cause him to shirk in his duty, which in turn has devastating consequences, the result of which is a lethal confrontation with the British rulers of the day. When the horseman is unable to fulfil his final obligation to the king; his ghost wanders the earth, spelling calamity for the land and its people.
Production
The film is co-produced by Ebonylife TV Studio and Netflix and is adapted for screen and directed by Biyi Bandele. It premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on September 9, 2022.
It is Soyinka's first work to be made into a motion picture since the 1970s film 'Kongi's Harvest' by Ossie Davies, and will be the first Yoruba-language film to premiere at TIFF.
Cast
* Odunlade Adekola
* Shaffy Bello
* Olawale Ibrahim Ashimi (Brymo)
* Deyemi Okanlawon
* Omowunmi Dada
* Jide Kosoko
* Kevin Ushi
* Jenny Stead
* Mark Elderkin
* Langley Kirkwood
* Taiwo Ajai-Lycett
* Joke Silva
References
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