Fun, laughter as ‘Three Wise Men’ premieres in Lagos

From the excitement that greeted the premiere of Opa Williams’ new comedy film, ‘Three Wise Men’, there are indications of a box office feat for the film which opened in cinemas across the country last week.

The comic movie, which is one of the Nollywood projects sponsored by Bank of Industry (BoI) under the NollyFund Scheme, was received with commendations by a huge number of celebrity stars, filmmakers, sponsors and the media at the Air Force Event Center on Kofo Abayomi, Victoria Island, Lagos.

It was a hilarious moment all through, as lead character of the film, Richard Mofe-Damijo, brought laugher-induced tears to the eyes of many with his carriage of Irikefe, a 64-year-old man who chooses the path of a playboy, bringing his two friends; Timi (Zack Orji) and Tobore (Victor Olaotan) into the ‘young at heart’ game.

Directed by Patience Oghre Imobhio, the film is one of the few beneficiaries of the Bank of Industry (BoI)’s loan scheme tagged Nollyfund.

Speaking to journalists on the red carpet, Opa Williams described the movie as a faith-based story that satirizes the actions and intents of the elderly trio in their mid/late 60s as they struggle to re-live their lost youth.

Representative of Bank of Industry (BoI) and head of the company’s Creative Desk, Mrs. Uche Nwuka expressed optimism on the success of the movie in the cinema while reiterating her bank’s commitment for the development of the creative sector in Nigeria.

Nwuka said: “It is our believe that as we produce international standard movies through this partnership, there would be the need to expand our chain of exhibition outlets such as Filmhouse, Viva cinemas, Ozone cinemas and others in the country, even as we get the best out of our accredited indigenous movie studios.”

She noted that the NollyFund was created to give an opportunity to Nollywood stars and filmmakers to make films, tell their stories and also make their profit, while helping them with various distribution platforms in Nigeria and Africa at large.

‘Three Wise Men’ tells the story of three retirees who, after many years of service in different government parastatals, settle in a suburb to enjoy their retirement benefits.

Leader of the group, Irikefe, a divorcee with three failed marriages after five children, after retirement, refurbishes his flat, buys a laptop, a nice sports car and goes shopping for jeans, T-shirts, sneakers and everything a young man could dream of.

The three men become an item as Irikefe introduces them to his world of fun; from tracking girls on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, joy riding to clubbing, RMD’s portrayal of this ‘sagging’ and tattoo wearing characters makes as much fun thrilling effect of the audience as his act of taking selfies and posting them on his social media platforms.

Other cast of the movie are, Ebere Okaro, Tina Mba, Thelma Nwosu, Uche Nwaefuna, Akunna Nworgu, Stanley Edirin Isokoh

Guests at the event include Founder of Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF), Ms Chioma Ude, President of Directors Guild of Nigeria (DGN), Fred Amata, notable filmmaker, Tunde Kelani, veteran entertainer, Patrick Doyle, filmmaker Emeka Ossai, President of African Film Consortium (AFC), Mykel Parish and broadcaster, Agatha Amata.

Others are officials of BoI, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Africa Magic and Nigerian Breweries Plc among other sponsors.