‘The Man Died’ Continues Global Festival Tour in UK, Others

Vanessa Obioha

Following its third showing at this year’s Quramo Festival of Words (QFest)—having first been privately screened on July 12 to commemorate the 90th birthday of Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, whose life inspired the film—organisers of the iREP International Documentary Film Festival have announced that the documentary ‘The Man Died’ will continue its global festival tour.

In a press statement, the producers revealed that the film is being considered for special screenings at educational institutions in Florence, Italy; Abu Dhabi in the UAE; Jo’Burg, South Africa as well at Ivy League institutions in the USA, including New York University; Harvard University; Oxford University; and at Ithaca College, among others. It was recently screened at New York University’s Ghana campus and is scheduled to show at the Film Africa Festival in London on October 27.

Further screenings are set for the African International Film Festival (AFRIFF) in early November and the Eastern Nigeria International Film Festival (ENIFF) in Enugu.

The film is also under consideration for top-tier film festivals, including Berlinale in Germany, Carthage in Tunisia, the Jo’burg Film Festival in South Africa, the African Film Festival in New York, and FESPACO in Burkina Faso.

In addition to the festival circuit, ‘The Man Died’ is being reviewed by at least three major global streaming platforms, with international distribution deals also in discussion.

‘The Man Died’ chronicles Soyinka’s activism, focusing on his 27-month incarceration by the Nigerian government during the Nigerian Civil War in 1967. It was written by UK-based scriptwriter, Bode Asiyanbi, directed by Abu Dhabi, UAE-based Awam Amkpa (Prof) and produced by Lagos-based Femi Odugbemi for Zuri 24 Media.