"SLC-S25/W3-Movie Snapshots|Hidden Gems"

I welcome you all to my blog, and it's so exciting to participate in this new contest where each participant will write a meaningful post to the best of their ability.

I watch movies a lot, particularly Nigerian movies and other films from outside my country, in order to improve my mental stability. Anytime I am less busy, I watch educational movies to learn in one way or another.

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Mention 5 lesser-known or underrated movie you have seen before

The five lesser-known movies are stated below, and most of these films are produced in Nigeria.

• Elesin Oba: The King's Horseman
• Mokalik
• A Tribe Called Judah
• Brotherhood
• Battle on Buka Street

➡️ The king's Horseman: Elesin Oba is an indigenous movie produced in Nigeria, and it is based on a true-life story in the old Oyo Empire in the late 1940s. The King's Horseman, known as Chief Elesin Oba in Yoruba language, needs to die by accompanying the dead king in helping him in the afterlife because during the lifetime of Alaafin he enjoy and also treated like a king. At night, when he wants to commit suicide, distraction erupts.

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➡️ Mokalik: This film was produced by Kunle Afolayan about the story of a young boy whose father sent him to learn in a mechanic workshop, although his place is very far from the apprentice center. When his father comes back to take him, Ponmile needs to make a tough decision whether to return to school or continue doing this job. The movie was released in 2019.

➡️ A Tribe Called Judah: A film produced by Funke Akindele in Nigeria, Funke Akindele is a single mother of five sons from different fathers. These five sons do everything possible to ensure that they enjoy good things in life, to the extent that they want to rob an organization to pay 18 million Naira for the treatment of their mother who has chronic kidney disease. Some of her sons are troubled boys, but they love their mother so much.

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➡️ Brotherhood: This is a Nigerian action movie in which two brothers from the same family are on opposite sides; one is a police officer, while the other is a criminal who terrorizes the people in the community by robbing them of their belongings. All attempts to catch him were not successful. His brother, who is a police officer, later teamed up with the rest of the police officers to catch him. The moment he was shot by one of the police officers, he jumped from the bridge into the lagoon, where he was not found.

➡️ Lakatabu: This movie contain criminal activities where life of the people in the community are threatening by these notorious members. He was directed by Odunlade Adekola and was released in 2024. He met his Waterloo when he kidnap the daughter of someone who offend him. He was powerful man who use juju to cause chaos in the society he found himself.

Discuss your reasons for saying these movies you have mentioned are lesser known or underrated movies.

All the aforementioned movies are lesser-known around the world, especially in the case of the movie Lakatabu, which does not convey meaningful information to the viewer, leading most people who watch the movie to rate it poorly. The producer directed the movies; however, if he had consulted professional directors, the movie could have gone viral.

Lack of marketing also has a negative effect on the movie because it will not reach its final audience, who are the ones to recommend this movie to their fellow viewers. In the case of the movie Brotherhood, all the actors tried hard, but perhaps another tough trailer was released at the same time, which caused viewers to overlook it. This movie is lesser-known worldwide due to the infamy of the actors and actresses, as well as the musical play used in the film.

The actors used in the movie also determine the choices of the film, and that was the case with Elesin Oba, because viewers see that the actor does not fit the role and they also consider it as a boring film. Lack of recognition globally contribute poorly to the lesser known of Nigeria movie in which they are not given award internationally.

What do you think can be done to make these movies better known or valued more.

Visuals, editing, and musical sound play a crucial role in contributing to the quality production of a movie. It is necessary to use these elements in a movie to catch the attention of viewers, gain more experience, and create suspense in the eyes of movie lovers.

Marketing is very important, where the producer or film marketer makes use of social media to reach the final audience; without marketing, many people would not know that such a movie is available for various households to view on their television screens.

Subtitles are another major aspect that can make the movie better; without them, viewers may not understand the exact language the actors or actresses are speaking. Your subtitles must be simple and easily accessible online for the audience to download.

The audience also needs to contribute to the movie's success in society. They can do this by using word of mouth to tell their family and friends about the latest movie they enjoyed. Doing this will motivate others to do the same by watching.

Thanks everyone for reading through my post and I would like to invite @goodybest, @eliany and @huraira50 to join me in this contest.