Call it a ‘collision’ between movie and moving train, and you may be right. Reason: the Nigerian film industry is about witnessing a new turn for the better as Native Media, an award winning film production company and the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) recently sealed a collaborative deal in the making of an impending flick entitled ‘Conversations In Transit’.
This came to the fore at a press briefing on Thursday in Lagos when Native Media in conjunction with the top management of NRC disclosed that the movie would showcase achievement of the Federal Government in the transport sector, specifically rail.
Speaking at the event, Rogers Ofime, producer, that it would be the very first time in Nigeria and in most of Africa, a movie would be shot almost entirely on a moving train, adding that it was indeed a great feat for Native Media, the Nigerian movie industry, and Nigeria as a nation.
Stating that the present administration had done remarkably well in infrastructural development, including the revamp of rail transport, Ofime noted that progress should be acknowledged and applauded.
He further said that the Nigerian narrative could be changed and the stories of our nation and our people told in a positive light, in spite of our age-long challenges.
Said Ofime: “This present administration has done remarkably well in infrastructural development, including the revamp of rail transport as a safe, reliable, and comfortable means of transportation within the country. We believe progress should be acknowledged and applauded, and we also believe the Nigerian narrative can be changed and the stories of our nation and our people are told in a positive light in spite of our age long challenges”.
Native Media, he said, was using this opportunity to showcase the Nigerian project and how far we have come in infrastructural development especially as these trains could be compared to what obtains anywhere in the world.
Ofime wished that more movie production companies would take a cue from this initiative and do more of promoting of the Nation’s laudable achievements.
Said he: “We are using this opportunity to showcase the Nigerian project and how far we have come in infrastructural development especially as these trains can be compared to what obtains anywhere in the world. It is a good step in the right direction and we ought to be proud of this as a people. With Native Media taking the lead on a project of this nature, we believe more movie production companies will take a cue from this initiative and do more of promoting our Nation’s laudable achievements”.
In his remarks, Engr. Fidet Edentalen, Managing-Director, NRC, represented by Mr. Niyi Ali, Director of Operations, expressed his excitement over the project collaboration, saying that when the film industry and the transportation industry, especially the railway, come together, it was something to be excited about.
He said the film would exhibit the much that the Federal Government had done in the rail sector, adding that the Lagos – Ibadan rail line, the Warri-Itape line and the Port Harcourt- Aba rail, among others were some of the railway projects embarked upon by the Federal Government.
He said the NRC was about to scale up the trains and that the plan was to run 16 trains per day, just as he urged Nigerians not to buy tickets from touts so as to discourage them from infiltrating the service.
Presently, he informed, NRC has a capacity to lift 600 passengers, adding that with time, e-ticketing would ease the problem of security tickets in Lagos.
In terms of high fare, he said market research suggested that it was just right but that nothing, pointing out nothing was cast in stone; that there would be opportunities to review the fare as the NRC increases capacity to move commuters.
‘Conversation In Transit’ is set on the 8:00am train from Lagos to Ibadan. Heiress Hajara, event planner, Ini and Career Woman, Adeola must decide what the future holds for them. But will they continue to live as usual or change the course of destiny? This is left for you to fathom in this film. There are other side attractions in the creative work, which showcases the beauty of comuting in style and comfort through the railways.
Native Media has carved a niche for itself in the last 10 years and has left major imprints in such works as The Mystic River, Oloibiri, Voiceless, Hotel Majestic, The Johnsons, Hush, Zone 22, Child International, Taurarin, Zamani and Zero Hour among others.
One of the filmmakers left with officials of NRC at the pre-production conference of Conversations in Transit, in Lagos
In the course of the press conference cum launch at the massive Mobalaji Johnson Railways Complex, Producer of the film, Rogers Ofime further described ‘Conversations In Transit’ as a love story he found very interesting from his first encounter with the script.
Said he: “This is one beautiful story, I thought to my self and I will like to tell so bad and tell it with the right people”.
While expressing his appreciation for the Managing Director of the NRC, and most especially, the Minister of Transport, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, he noted that with a cast made up of RMD, Uzee Usman and Rahama Sadau among others, Nigerians were in for something magical, following a beautiful story crafted by Ummi Aisha Baba-Ahmed & Writers Ink Concept.
For Roberts Peters, who is Director, the sayings of Alfred Hitchcock that a great film is centred on the script finds fulfillment in ‘Conversations In Transit’.
Observed he during the production conference: “Scripts are what matter. If you get the foundations right and then you get the right ingredients on top, you stand a shot.. but if you get those foundations wrong, then you absolutely don’t stand a shot. It’s very rare – almost never that a good film gets made from a bad screenplay. ‘Conversation In Transit’ screenplay is a solid foundation. This is one movie I can’t wait to be part of”.
