The short film, Ananze and the Zipman, is exciting to watch. It combines elements from the Nigerian belief in the supernatural culture and comic book superhero genre.
However, the film, as spectacular as it might be, results from a class project from the just concluded Multichoice Talent Factory film school.
According to Miniwon Metung who co-produced the film, “We were in film school and we had an assignment to do a production design at the MTF (Multichoice Talent Factory). So the production designer asked for a script and Gilbert raised up his hand and brought out Ananze and The Zipman.” After they completed the assignment, the script was dropped and that was the end.
The film’s writer and director Gilbert Bassey, emerged as the Best Film Student at the Multichoice Talent Factory and created AlutaContinua Media Africa (ALCMediaAfrica), a film production company, alongside friends and fellow students Miniwon Metung and Tochukwu Nwaiwu.
On why they picked up the script again, Metung said “It was one of the most compelling stories we had and it was short.”
Gilbert Bassey had originally conceived the script as a revenge rape story but dropped the idea because he couldn’t relate to it on a personal level. The titular Zipman was also originally a male character. After eight revisions, the plot of the movie evolved to being a journalist’s grievance against the government and her quest for revenge as the Zipman. The storyline is poignant following many Nigerians’ anger with the government over their handling of the extrajudicial killings by the SARS unit in the police force.
Uzomamaka Anuinoh delivers an outstanding performance as the journalist Joan, who moonlights as the Zipman. She captures the helplessness Nigerians feel at the mercy of corrupt governments and also the need for people to hold the government accountable. Her co-star, Chimezie Imo also delivers in his performance. Transforming from a politician’s spoilt brat to Ananze the 654-year-old being who can blur the lines between dreams and reality.
The run time for the short film is 27 minutes and the production quality is quite impressive given that it was shot with an estimated budget of 2.5 million naira.
Ananze and the Zipman is available to watch for free, but to watch it, you’ll have to subscribe to ALC’s mailing list. There are already talks about developing the characters for a possible franchise.
