‘Amara’, the heart-wrenching story of love gone sour by Joe Aihende finally premiered in Lagos, south-west Nigeria on Sunday, following a long-wait which saw the movie go through various screenings in Zurich, Switzerland where the drama was partly shot.
Speaking with Entertainment News on Channels Television, the Director, Bond Emeruwa, disclosed that ‘Amara’ took six years to produce, more than half a decade since the project began in the European country.
“Amara is quite a special project, it actually took six years to make. We started the project about six years ago and it took us three years to put the Nigeria side inside. I am really glad the movie is finally hitting the cinemas. A lot of effort went into making it and people should see it.”
Amara tells the story of a 42-year-old Nigerian man, who returns home from Switzerland, in search of true love following a failed marriage to a European woman. He eventually finds her but, his life takes another expected turn when the new wife doesn’t seem to fit into his life.
The director further stated that most Nigerians believe life in European countries is very easy whereas that is not the case.
“A lot of Nigerians believe that the grass is so green over there and the whole streets are made with gold. That is why we have had a lot of people leaving Nigeria to Europe, America, and other countries to chase the green pasture and when you go over there, you will see how a lot of them eat.
“All of them are living wretched, terrible lives, a lot more they will have been in this country and sometimes because of shame they can’t come back.so it was just a little bit of exposure of what people go through over there. So, the movie will open a lot of people’s eyes to what to expect out there.” He said
The movie is more than a “Greener Grass” tale as domestic violence comes into play.
Lead actor, Anthony Monjaro, has had to maintain the same look for the past 5 years, to give ease of continuity. Speaking at the premiere he sheds more light on the story.
“I talk about domestic violence and sometimes different angles of domestic violence. It is my character Nnamdi, he is a violent person, what circumstances actually brought him to be the kind of person that he turned out to be. It is him coming back from Switzerland wanting to get married to a woman who is cultured and the woman he takes back to Switzerland, her expectations to what Switzerland is, is different.
“So, it is a culture class, the man is pushed and he turns out to be something else. I think everybody should go out there and see it and watch a good movie, with good morals as well.”
Amara stars a mix-match of Nigerian and European actors with Ugandan, Jennifer Mulinde Schmid.
Others include Sibylla Rausmussen, Marco Zubinden, Yvonne Jegede, Ali Nuhu, Judith Audu and Yemi Blaq, amongst others.