Nigerian filmmaker Desmond Ovbiagele says the COVID-19 lockdown introduced last year affected the setting and mode of release of his celebrated 2020 movie The Milkmaid.
The movie producer spoke on Monday during an interview with NAN.
Nigeria declared lockdown last year as a measure to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. This severely affected several sectors of the economy including the entertainment industry; until its reversal a few months later.
However affected Nollywood was by the lockdown, Ovbiagele revealed that The Milkmaid was better off for it; as it allowed him to do in-depth research into the concepts used in the movie. According to him, this enhanced its quality of production.
Ovbiagele said:
“COVID-19 pandemic has taken its toll on the movie industry globally. Personally it has affected the setting of the release and the mode of the release for the movie The Milkmaid.”
“Also the lockdown period afforded me time for some internal soul searching to find out what sort of story I want to tell, the style, and voice; and to put pen on paper to articulate my thoughts into a number of scripts.”
“I am looking to get the scripts which I was able to write during the lockdown into production as soon as I can and resources are available. Time will tell if they become blockbusters but they are stories which I feel passionate about,” he said.
The movie has continued to pull the strings since its release, snagging positive reviews, awards and recognition.
Also, The Milkmaid is representing the country for the Best International Feature Film category of the 93rd Academy Awards.
It won the Best Film, Best Film in an African Language, Achievement in Makeup, and The National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) Award for Best Nigerian Film categories at the 2020 Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) held in December.
