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Nollywood Movie Review – SPOTLIGHT

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SPOTLIGHT

Royal Arts Academy

Story/Screenplay – Anthony Kehinde Joseph

Director – Sukanmi Adebayo

Producer – Emem Isong Misodi

Director Of Photography 1 –  Tomrobson

Director Of Photography 2 – Uche Alexmoore

Rating – 4/10

Reviewed By – Vivian Nappier

Trailer –  SPOTLIGHT

“Spotlight” is another production from “Royal Arts Academy” that follows the life of three young women from different sides of the county, on their journey to becoming Actresses in an Acting Academy. The movie actually features some of the real students in Royal Arts Academy as part of the lead characters.

PLOT SUMMARY

Shazi (Lota Chukwu), Anjola (Onyeka Emechebe) and Hope (Mena Sodje), three young women raised in different parts of the city, gains admission into the Spotlight Acting Academy. Shazi lies to her father about attending computer school, Hope pressures her mother into acceptance with the hope of becoming the next Mercy Johnson and Angola is berated by her fiancé for not being able to make up her mind and get a proper job.

They all get off on the wrong foot but eventually are forced to makeup and become teammates when they are grouped into a team of three. With a mediocre performance and few weeks from graduating, they decide to up their game and work harder at becoming better actresses through the means of improvisation.

Sadly, the road to success always tends to be bumpy and so are their personal lives. Shazi continues to lie to her father about going to computer school until she is offered a job by her father’s best friend at his computer firm,  Angola, frustrated with her fiancé’s lack of support, seeks comfort in a classmate, Kolade(Ikechukwu Akanno), and Hope takes intensive speech lesson with a guest actor, turned lover, Sukky (Bolanle Ninalowo).  Eventually, secrets are revealed, things starts to fall apart and the women ponder making adjustments or just staying divided as they continue on their path to success.

END OF PLOT SUMMARY

Great job once again from Emem Isong Misodi. Producing is a huge task and not one that can be easily conquered. It brings joy to know that women are not stepping down in our movie industry and I hope to see more women take on the role of Directing and Producing.

Sound was a great improvement from most Productions that come out of Nollywood.

With that being said, the story once again falls into a generic path as well as cliché moments. The majority of the acting was laughable and the movie dragged on for way too long. It was 1 hour 36 minutes of movie time but felt like a 4 hour movie.

It was very refreshing to see new faces although their performances differed…. But I hope to see progression as they grow in the industry.

I understand that the movie raises awareness on some of the struggle actresses go through on the path to becoming an actress BUT, if the said students were quoted to have gained admission into the acting academy, it means they went through a screening process like auditioning, reading a script, writing a statement, submitting a headshot etc. In the movie, a class session shows how most of the grown up students struggled with reading and acting…which in return made the other students mock them. How did they gain admission into an acting academy if they can’t even read properly? Although it was made for comedic effect, it came off more as a production that lacked proper research.

It was very upsetting to see the full outline of the wireless body microphone worn by Onyeka Emechebe and I am just so confused on how a production that had not 1 but 2 Directors Of Photography, 1 Director, 1 Assistant Director, 1 Artistic Director, 5 Camera Assistant and an Editor did not notice the wireless body mic showing? And if they all did, why is it okay to let it show in a movie meant to be shown worldwide? Why?

mic spotlight

Although the ending was meant to be comedic and heroic, it came off more like an ignorant and biased judgment to choosing a winner… which unfortunately, happens in the society we live in.

Also, something our movies (both Nollywood and Ghallywood) really need to understand and work on – “Just because a long take was shot during production doesn’t mean the whole take must be used in the actual movie.” This is one of the major problems found in most of our productions. It is not okay, it is one of the basic rules to filmmaking.

Overall, the movie was okay, but I have to say, it was more of a let down especially as it is a production made by an actual Acting and Film Academy that promotes Acting and Filmmaking.

What do you think?

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