Nigeria-Norway Co-production ‘The Lost Café’ Comes to Netflix

Yinka Olatunbosun

On Saturday 31 July, Netflix will release The Lost Café, a film directed by Kenneth Gyang and produced by Regina Udalor. A Nigeria and Norway co-production, The Lost Café is an intensely realist depiction of the struggles faced by Nigerian immigrants—as filtered through the experiences of a young woman.

Udalor makes her Netflix debut with the film, starring Tunde Aladese and the Norwegian actor Anders Lidin Hansen alongside Terje Bruun Lien and Nigerian actor Omatta Udalor.

While reflecting on the production, Udalor said she hopes it is the start of more collaborations between Nigeria and the European country as both countries can learn from each other.

“As a resident of Norway for over a half decade, I have observed several similarities between Norway and Nigeria; many differences, too. And I think there are things Norway can learn from Nigeria and vice versa. The Lost Café is our way of bridging the gap that currently exists between both countries,” Udalor said.

While Udalor is optimistic about the film attracting audiences in both producing countries, filming for The Lost Café was hardly smooth. The Nigeria-based crew hit a snag when they had their visas refused by the European authorities, leading to an improvisation that saw Udalor recruit local personnel to shoot the film’s Norway scenes.

“It was a difficult process that required us to think up solutions to problems we likely would not have had if we had filmed in one country,” she said. “We are thankful that we could get it done and now the film can be seen by anyone with a Netflix account.”

The film follows a Nigerian graduate student who has come to Norway to study to become a film director. Overwhelmed by loneliness in the new country, she begins to visit a café where she finds and befriends a nice elderly man who serves her coffee but may be hiding a secret. He becomes her confidant—but it is not long before she must confront her own fears and the secret held by her new friend.

The Lost Café is Gyang’s third film on the American streaming platform and comes after his widely seen and highly acclaimed film, Oloture, which was released as a Netflix Original in 2020. According to Nollywood insiders, Gyang is currently involved in an unnamed project, which might also surface on Netflix.

For her part, Udalor is working on the Golden Brush show, a reality TV project featuring make-up artists selected from across Nigeria. “We will announce the show when we are through with one or two touches,” she said. “For now, we are focused on The Lost Café, which every lover of film—and anyone contemplating immigration—should definitely see.”