‘We don’t live here’ movie premieres in Lagos

The movie, ‘We don’t live here anymore’, produced by Tope Oshin, was premiered recently at the Film IMAX, Lekki, Lagos. The producer of the movie, Tope Oshin, who spoke to journalists at the premiere, said that the movie preached a message of humanity, saying “Irrespective of the lines that divide us, we need to tolerate each other and being knowledgeable that whatever we do to another person comes back to us”.

She explained that the movie described when parents are faced with situations, how they could handle it with the choices they make regarding their children’s lives, noting that What decision do you make to heal them or you cover up.

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The filmmaker further explained that the movie was borne out of the importance to preach equality.

“It’s important to touch on human rights. It’s important to heal the society and tame the evils before the society and that’s why we came up with this movie.

“We looked at how we can talk about one of the evils in the society and also mirror the society and inspire changes”, she said.

Speaking also, popular actress, Funlola Aofiyebi-Raimi said that people were dealing with a lot more than was understood, adding that the movie beautifully showed different challenges a child goes through and different ways mothers can be there for their children.

While explaining how she felt playing the role of Nike Bajulaiye as the mother of Tolu Bajulaiye in the movie, she said tears rolled from her eyes on stage because watching it brought back emotions even though it was shot about a year ago.

“I felt grateful and thankful for getting the role. I feel it’s a lucky one for an actress because she went through a rollercoaster of emotions. I think it’s an important story to tell. As a mother myself, what I would do if I were in that position. Would I disown my child? Pretending that the situation does not exist will not help us with the reality we are facing” Funlola explained.

On how the government can mitigate some of the issues in the society, The actress said that It might be a long journey but the journey of a thousand miles begins with a step, adding that there was a time when the idea of telling such a story wasn’t there.

‘We don’t live here anymore’ is a movie that tells the story of two young boys, Tolu Bajulaiye and Chidi Egwuonwu, who find themselves involved in a scandal and are forced to deal with the consequences of their sexual orientation that could ultimately alter the course of their future.

The movie leads the audience through an emotional and nuanced journey of two families, as they are forced to confront taboo issues and navigate their realities at home, school, and in the society at large. The film takes an in-depth look at violence, discrimination, and the many struggles faced by persons of non-heteronormative sexual orientation, presenting a narrative that seeks to educate and inform the society.

The Initiative for Equal Rights (TIERS) is a Nigerian based non-for-profit organisation working to promote a society free from discrimination, and protect human rights regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Some of their past works include the short film, ‘Hell or high water’, the YouTube series, ‘Everything in between’ and the book, ‘She called me a woman’.