Nigerian Prince is a coming of age story and a heist thriller. Set in Lagos, Nigeria, it uncovers the hidden world of “Nigerian Prince” email scams. In the photo above, listed left to right, are actor Chinaza Uche, filmmaker Faraday Okoro, and actor Antonio J. Bell at the Tribeca Film Festival red carpet in Manhattan.
The story is based on an advance-fee fraud where a supposed Nigerian prince emails you that he will share his million dollars—or more—if you can help him with the bank fees by sending him $10,000. Then, once you’re hooked, there will be additional emails sent to you that contain even more cockamamie reasons why you will need to send the scammer more money before your big payoff of the cool mil.
It’s hard to believe that anyone is so gullible that they fall for it—but they do.

Nigerian Prince will have its theatrical release tonight.

In April, AT&T awarded its second $1 million winners, Sasie Sealy and Angela Cheng. Their film, Lucky Grandma, will have its world premiere screening during the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival next April. Both films will also run on DirecTV NOW.
AT&T and the Tribeca Film Festival are giving filmmakers another shot at $1 million to make a movie as part of the AT&T Presents: Untold Stories program, a multi-year, multi-tier alliance between AT&T and Tribeca, along with the year-round nonprofit Tribeca Film Institute. Aspiring filmmakers can submit their scripts between now and Nov. 19 for their chance to compete and become the third $1 million recipient of AT&T’s Untold Stories program. To submit your script and to view official program rules and regulations, please visit TribecaFilmInstitute.org/ATTUntoldStories.

Filmmaker Faraday Okoro

Faraday Okoro, a New York City based Nigerian-American filmmaker, wrote and directed Nigerian Prince. The movie had its premiere at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. Okoro received a $1 million grant from AT&T to produce this film.
 

See more Red Carpet photos here.

Chinaza Uche—who is even more captivating in person—plays Pius, Eze’s ne’er-do-well cousin, a full-time scammer. Newcomer Uche gave a flawless and nuanced performance as a pitiable character despite his perfect looks and seductive charm. Despite his big talk as self-appointed scamming mentor to Eze, Pius leads an empty, lonely, life of quiet desperation.

The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.
— Henry David Thoreau, Walden (1854).

Throughout the film, there are moments where you’ll catch Pius looking like he has been haunted for years with despair. Actor Uche has gives a performance with a full range and  conveys so much with just his eyes.
The film has everything: strong plot that you haven’t seen before, great dialogue, excellent acting, a surprising amount of humor and plenty of substance.

My rating: 5 stars

All photos © 2018 Dorri Olds

The post AT&T’s Untold Stories ‘NIGERIAN PRINCE’ Debuts in Theaters and On Demand appeared first on Award-Winning Writer and Graphic Designer.

SEE ALSO: Honeysuckle Magazine

The awesome all-day affair was filled with uplifting, invigorating female speakers (and one #woke male). Participants included Tribeca Film Festival’s Jane Rosenthal and Paula Weinstein, and long-time activist and founder of the #MeToo movement, Tarana Burke. Actresses-turned-activists who spoke included Ashley Judd, Mira Sorvino, Mariska Hargitay, Lupita Nyong’o, Amber Tamblyn, Julianne Moore, Marisa Tomei, Sienna Miller, Jurnee Smolett Bell, Cynthia Erivo, Sasheer Zamata.

Additional trailblazing women included Haifaa al-Mansour, Saudi Arabia’s first female filmmaker; Joanna Coles, Chief Content Officer of Hearst Magazines; Pam Wasserstein, CEO of New York Media; Roberta (Robbie) Kaplan, of Kaplan & Company and co-founder of #TimesUp Legal Defense Fund; Amy Emmerich, Chief Content Officer, of Refinery29; Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Secretary General and Executive Director of UN Women — and the list goes on.

Ashley Judd’s Powerful Letter

We can heal. That has been my experience. We may not, admittedly, know how to, or even from what we need to heal. It may be the event itself, or vivid or dull memories of it, and it is entirely plausible that we don’t even remember the event. There is a police record of a time I was sexually assaulted in high school. I was wearing a green and gold cheerleader uniform, my mother tells me. It was in a local store, and I have no memory of that crime. We may not even think we need to heal, that maybe we’ve just had some crappy relationships. Whatever trauma looks like in our lives, feelings can be healed.

Healing is our birthright. It was not our birthright to be sexually harassed or assaulted or raped based on social constructs of gender, biology, sex, identity, orientation, ethnicity, race, ability, or any intersection thereof. It is our birthright to know in our bones that it wasn’t our fault. We humans hurt each other, and sometimes we hurt ourselves, but we can make decisions and take actions that free us.

She Makes An Excellent Point Here

Everyone’s freedom may look a little different. For some it is calling the police, or reporting to HR, or contacting the legal defense fund. Often choices include healthy, cathartic processing with a safe, wise friend or a trauma-informed specialist. The particular freedom I’m describing does have one universal quality: It’s an inside job. It is peace of mind. Yes, we can have peace of mind, even as survivors of violent sexual assault.

It does take work, and it does take time. It requires transformation, and we are worth it. This meta-transformation is a powerful journey from being a disempowered victim who was aggressed upon to the wound just becoming an integrated part of the whole that we are. Trauma lives in the cells of our bodies and it affects the neuroanatomical pathways of our brain; it is completely natural for being a victim to be a part of our bodies. It is, I am here to tell you, impermanent.

Trauma and the Brain

There’s no universal timeframe for this trajectory of healing, and everyone’s work looks a little different. For some, talking about it drives the trauma deeper into the brainstem, and for others, divulging every nuance and detail is liberating.

Professional modalities have helped hundreds of thousands of us get relief from impossible burdens. Inpatient treatment, workshops, and retreats have brought us together and set us free. Experiential work and meditation are necessary. Breathing is free, and it intercepts PTSD. Meditation is clinically proven to ameliorate the trauma that lies triggered and wired in our brains, waiting for life to trip us up. Exercise is still the best pill around.

Twelve-step programs and other resources are so helpful because many of us, in our efforts to self-soothe, to find peace where there has been turmoil, turn to alcohol or give it a cookie, take it shopping, seek out relationships. And those behaviors can become out of hand or even compulsive. Eventually, though, what happened to us becomes externalized, and we may hold it in our hands and look at it objectively. The facts remain the facts, but by God, we change. Resilience kicks in.

No, Life Is Not Fair but…

This is not fair. Let’s be plain. It isn’t right or fair that 1 out of 4 girls or 1 out of 6 boys will be sexually assaulted, by conservative estimates, at the age of 18, amongst other catastrophic statistics. But—and this is everything, my friends—when we become aware of our pain, and have some education about it, we become responsible for addressing our pain in effective and healthy ways.

What happened to us will always have been wrong, sexist, and criminal, yet we are fundamentally and ultimately responsible, respondable to our own lives. This may sound harsh, but it means we have autonomy, we are powerful, and we have agency. The final stage is that what happened to us merely becomes a story we tell that may be of service to another human being. Perhaps placed in God’s hands, or some other benevolent, compassionate higher power’s hands, this story makes life so worthwhile and meaningful now. With it, we can help others avert death and misery.

You Are Not Alone

You are not alone, I believe you, and it wasn’t your fault, by now are our internal paradigm. We learn how to trust people who are trustworthy and have discernment about those who are not. We can artfully set and maintain healthy boundaries.

We use our voices, we weather retaliation and act up anyway. We cease taking people, places, and things so personally, and what was that rage Tarana [Burke] spoke about becomes our strength, our energy, and our motivation. What was depression becomes expression, and self-pity and helplessness are transformed into dignity, integrity, and courage. We celebrate and enjoy our sexuality. We prosecute and forgive at the same time.

There will still be the hard days. The facts do remain the facts, but we know our preciousness and our fierceness. Healing, damn it, is our birthright.

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The auction launched Thurs., March 22. Bidding closes on Thurs., April 5 at 3 pm (EST).

More About Charitybuzz

Charitybuzz offers online auctions that bring together hundreds of the world’s most acclaimed celebrities to fund incredible causes. Here’s a quote from the About Us page of the Charitybuzz website: “From walk-on roles with Hollywood A-listers to power lunches with Fortune 500 CEOs, when you join Charitybuzz every dream is a new way to make a difference.” Charitybuzz is a member of Charity Network, named one of Fast Company‘s 2017 Most Innovative Companies.

Tribeca Film Institute Original Trailer

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Schindler’s List

It’s been 25 years since Schindler’s List was released. After the screening, Spielberg, Liam Neeson, Sir Ben Kingsley, and Embeth Davidtz will answer questions and add commentary about the what went on behind the scenes during the making of the film. New York Times critic Janet Maslin will moderate.

I’ve had the honor of interviewing the great Spielberg and Kingsley up close and personal. They were both wonderful to be around. Spielberg was surprisingly kind and generous with his time. Since I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting Neeson, I’m looking forward to that, too. Tickets go on sale tomorrow, March 20 at 10:00 a.m.In
DATE: Thursday, April 26th
TIME: 6:30 PM
LOCATION: Beacon Theatre

Scarface

The legendary Scarface opened in theaters 35 years ago. It won three Golden Globe nominations and has become iconic. After the anniversary screening, director De Palma and actors Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer will reunite to discuss their gangland masterpiece. Tickets go on sale tomorrow, March 20 at 10:00 a.m.
DATE: Thursday, April 19th
TIME: 7:00 PM
LOCATION: Beacon Theatre

In the Soup

New York indie In the Soup was directed by Alexandre Rockwell and starred Steve Buscemi who played Adolpho, a man living in a deteriorating New York City apartment and trying to write a screenplay. It won a Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in 1992, then disappeared. Only one damaged print remained in existence. TFF, the patron saint of independent films, will be showing the newly restored film for its world premiere! After showing the film, director Rockwell, actors Buscemi, Jennifer Beals, Sam Rockwell, and cinematographer Phil Parmet will sit down for a discussion.
Stay tuned. Much more to come!
#Tribeca2018

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