Bakia Thomas: We Have to Tell Our Own Stories to the World

Last weekend, C.O.L.D, a blockbuster movie opened in cinemas nationwide with a stellar cast such as Pete Edochie, RMD, Hilda Dokubo, Ireti Doyle, Kanayo O. Kanayo, Ik Ogbonna, Keppy Ekpeyong, Lisa Viola (Australian), Femi Branch, Freddie George, and Lincoln Edochie.  Produced and directed by Bakia T. Thomas, the suspense-packed movie is projected to create a new cinema record for a Nollywood movie. In this chat with Ferdinand Ekechukwu, Bakia T. Thomas shares more about the movie, his journey as a filmmaker, and the “cartel” in the industry

What is C.O.L.D. all about?

C.O.L.D is a movie that seeks to address the rot created by religion in our society. People have asked why we choose such a sensitive topic at a time like this and my response is simple. Film is not just for commercial purposes like Spielberg said and I quote: “I make films to make money so I can make more films”. Film is also a tool for societal transformation. So C.O.L.D seeks to address issues created by religion which also affects society.

Why the title/theme spelt C.O.L.D?

Congregation of the Living Dead (C.O.L.D), that’s the abbreviation.

Is this your first cinema movie?

C.O.L.D is my first cinema film but not my first film to break into bigger platforms. I have made films for Netflix and this time I felt it is necessary to go to cinema with the film before it hits the bigger platforms.

What inspired the movie?

Hmmm, what inspired the movie? There is a serious moral decay within society and this is a function of the ideas that were sold to us during pre-colonial era and the era of slave trade. The white man in trying to explore our mineral resources in Africa used religion as a tool to enslave the people to pave way for the theft of mineral resources. Since after slave trade was abolished, the ideas they sold were not questioned so the people carried on with that enslaved mentality and that has greatly affected our people in the way we pursue religion and religious activities.

It parades not just some of the best actors in Nollywood but some of the biggest names… What informed your choice of cast?

Every film has specific characterization. When it was obvious I was going to make the movie C.O.L.D The first thing I did was to identify the cast. Some say I choose legends but I said I choose actors. I understood the budget I had for the film so I needed people who will give me depth in terms of interpretation and those I casted did justice to the film.

What are the other movie projects you have been involved in either as a director or producer…

I have been around for 19 years as a director. I wrote, produced and directed the ‘Last Trigger’, starring Jim Iyke, Hank Anuku, and Halima Abubakar in 2009. I wrote, produced and directed ‘The Unknown’, starring Rita Dominic, Yul Edochie, and Alex Osifo. Also ‘Bakassi’ (The Lost Homeland), a film detailing the plight of the homeless indigenous people of the oil rich portion of Cross River State, following the transfer of sovereignty from Neighbouring Nigeria through a judgment of the International Court of Justice ceding the area to Cameroon, was written, produced and directed by me. This film will be coming soon on bigger platforms also. It features Sam Dede, IK Ogbonna, Bimbo Akintola, Bishop Imeh, and others.

What are the challenges?

Every industry has a cartel whether you believe it or not. The worst of it is in the cinema industry. There is a gang up on my film C.O.L.D because it challenges a film they wanted to promote so badly and after the first weekend, the margins of what the film everyone within the cartel was pushing for and refusing to show C.O.L.D was shocking, in terms of what it made. So they now realized that fighting a man who is grazed can disgrace anyone. They have no choice than give C.O.L.D the audience and show time it deserves. Some cinemas like EbonyLife Cinema did so well for C.O.L.D. Their halls were sold out and a lot of people had to go back the next day to watch and that is because of the show time and support they gave C.O.L.D. The reviews we have gotten so far have been very encouraging. People have to realize that the sky is so large that beds don’t clash while flying. The fans in Nigeria outnumber the films we make so every film should be given the right opportunity to showcase at the cinemas and this useless malpractice of going behind to pay some cinemas staff so they direct people to go watch one film and deny fans the right time to watch others is devilish and it must stop. We have videos of these malpractices which we will have to present if some distributors and studios don’t stop immediately such devilish acts.

How lucrative has movie production and directing been for you?

Well, I keep saying no one hangs around a business that isn’t lucrative. If film wasn’t, I would have gone into cassava farming (laughs).

You mentioned Netflix in your response. And now the movie industry seems to be having more streaming platforms coming into Nollywood. What do you make of their entries?

Over the years, a lot of investors who came into the industry got discouraged after their first attempt because they never recovered their investments back. The coming of Netflix and Amazon Prime really helped boost the industry because now people can be sure of their investments. We hope this country will attract and not use taxes to pursue intending investors in the motion picture industry.

What has the experience been like working in Nollywood?

Telling stories has been my life. I run an NGO, Neighbourhood Child Foundation which I founded and also an established hospital, Neighbourhood Foundation Hospital to cater for the health needs of the less privileged in the society. I spend more time with less privilege people. And have heard things that make me depressed most times. Filmmaking gives me such a platform to tell lots of stories and connect people everywhere.

What next can we look forward to from you?

We are currently working on a script which will be a story centered on slavery. The West have fooled themselves for ages thinking they can tell our stories to suit them and make their narrative accepted as what really happened. They never tell you the real cause of the genocide that happened in Rwanda or the young men whose hands were chopped off by Belgians in Congo. Because they couldn’t meet their harsh demands of working in their Gold Mines because of their quest for mineral resources or the Mpaw Manku (rotten cocoyam) war that was fought in Mamfe, a town in the English speaking part of Cameroon ignited by the colonial masters because they needed the people to grow palm trees for palm oil because of their soap production but the people disregarded the order and instead choose palm wine. We have to tell our own stories by ourselves to the world.