Revenge Drama, Orah, for Toronto Film Festival

Ferdinand  Ekechukwu

Orah, a revenge drama has been revealed as one of the 12 slated films selected for screening at the 48th edition of Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in the Industry Selects Programme for accredited buyers during the festival and worldwide acquisition. The prestigious TIFF 2023 will take place in mid-September 2023, as it features many works of art from all over the world.

Produced and directed by Nigerian Canada-based filmmaker Lonzo Nzekwe, who has over time created transnational Nigerian content which includes Anchor Baby, Meet The Parents, and a couple of other movies. Nzekwe, shared the news on his Twitter page thanking the cast and crew. “Congrats to our cast and crew in Canada and Nigeria. You all are amazing,” he added.

Nzekwe collaborated with Circle Blue Entertainment, Freddie Films and IronFlix Inc. on the movie, which features talented actors such as O.C Ukeje, Oyin Oladejo, Lucky Onyekachi Ejim, Oris Erhuero, Somkele Iyamah-Idhalama, and Christopher Seivright. Other actors in the movie are Morgan Bedard, Tina Mba and Kelechi Udegbe.

Orah had its first principal photography in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, while the second unit was shot in Lagos in November 2022. The story begins in 2005, when the title character – 15-year-old Orah Madukaku – kills a man in Nigeria and flees the country, leaving her son, Lucky, behind. 17 years later, Orah, who is an illegal immigrant, is found working as a cabbie for an attorney and his Nigerian client, Bami Hazar.

Orah’s work with Attorney Eli Pope and Bami Hazar includes international money laundering in a bid to help bring her son to Canada. Her teenage son gets murdered back in Nigeria, and she is now on a mission to bring down the international money launderers’ responsible for his death. This becomes the beginning of the revenge journey with Orah.