New Film, Nini, Stirs Conversations On Declining Family, Societal Values

A newly-produced film, ‘Nini’, has raised discussions on family and societal issues that affect the female and girl-child.

Written, directed, and produced by Dr Sam Idiagbonya, the film tells the story of betrayal and triumph. When a young woman, Nini (Mariah Ugbashi), breaks a promise to her mother, her life takes a careening spiral, unravelling secrets and betrayals that tear their familial bonds apart.

Packing a star cast including veterans Jide Kosoko, Tina Mbah, Keppy Ekpeyong, Chinyere Wilfred, Francis Duru, Yemi Blaq and rising stars Imo Chimezie and Mariah Ugbashi, the movie raises issues of the dangers of modern parenting, the dearth of communal upbringing of children, and the importance of addressing issues concerning the male child alongside the girl child.

At the film premiere recently in Abuja, veteran actress Tina Mbah said she was attracted to the story and the topical familial issues it raises that Nigeria, as a society, as families, sweep under the carpet because they are too discomforting to discuss.

Beyond the issue of family secrets, predators and prey raised in the movie, Mbah highlights the need for parents to ‘parent well’.

According to her, there is a need to return to the old ways of parenting – “where a community raises a child, where the child is taught to be morally conscious, value integrity and to be their brother’s keeper” – and away from the modern-day – “where everybody is on his or her own, until disaster occurs.

“Today, a nine-year-old and a 14-year-old are running up and down trying to buy a Benz. My question is, “Don’t they have parents? How did it get to this point? These acts by the children are a cry for help, because they think they can belong once they have these things. But it is like a drug, the more they take, the more they get high on it, and so they escalate their cry for help into committing crimes, most of the time.”

For actor Yemi Blaq, the best means of addressing the rampant issues around the girl-child is through the education of the boy/male-child to be better behaved. Beyond the education of the male child alongside the girls, he said girls should be taught to identify and appreciate gentlemanly manners too.

“Chivalry is not dead. A lot of men do believe in being gentlemanly, myself included. I have often been in situations where I am being gentlemanly and the ladies in question just walk by without acknowledgement or appreciation of what has been done. That is what puts off some men.”

For his part, Ekpeyong hoped that Nigerians would appreciate “the deeper sentiments explored by the movie and not get carried away by the embellishments.” Such embellishments include the rising love of villains in movies by movie audiences, in particular, villains with a catchphrase like the character Femi’s (Antar Laniyan): “This is not necessary.”

It is one thing to appreciate a complex villain who may not or have experienced a character arc like Creasy (Denzel Washington) in Man on Fire, or Moon Baek (Kim Young Kwan) in the Korean film Trigger. Not for shallow reasons like the physical look of the character who portrays them or their catchphrase.

Ekpeyong is, however, confident that Nigerians like movies with good plots. “If you put out a good thing, we see it, appreciate it, and then, we gyrate towards that. That’s the law of attraction.”

Inspired more by imagination than real-life experience or events, Idiagbonya assured the audience to expect more of such intricate plotlines in his upcoming projects via Fedmas Studios.
‘Nini’ opens today in 70 cinemas nationwide.