Hafsat Abiola
Joanna Lipper
[First Look] Extended Trailer For Riveting Nigeria-Set Feature Documentary ‘The Supreme Price’
Wednesday, April 17, 2013Omoba
The Supreme Price - a USA/Nigeria production
currently, in post, from director Joanna Lipper, about the pro-democracy
movement in Nigeria and efforts to increase the participation of women in
leadership roles.
Read the story:
The Supreme Price tells the story of Hafsat Abiola
— a daughter determined to realize her parents’ dreams of alleviating poverty
and bringing democracy to Nigeria. In 1993, while Hafsat studied at Harvard,
her father, M.K.O Abiola, was elected President of Nigeria. The military
annulled the election results and seized power. Hafsat’s father became a
renowned prisoner of conscience and in response, Hafsat’s mother, Kudirat,
assumed leadership of Nigeria’s pro-democracy movement, demanded that the US
embargo Nigerian oil and spoke out against the military dictatorship, actions
which led to her assassination. As Nigeria transitions to civilian rule,
Hafsat, now a human rights activist and social entrepreneur, faces the
challenge of transforming a dysfunctional, fraudulent culture of political
leadership into a legitimate democracy capable of serving Nigeria’s most marginalized
population: women.
As someone whose father sought presidency in
Cameroon (Nigeria’s immediate neighor) roughly 20 years ago, with similar goals
of bridging the wealth gap and bringing democracy to that country, and who paid
a somewhat similar price, this is obviously a subject of genuine interest to
me.
The photo above is of Hafsat Abiola, by the way.
This film was made with lots of wonderful support
from organizations like The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Ford
Foundation/Just Films, ITVS, the Tribeca Gucci Spotlighting Women Documentary
Award, Chicken & Egg Pictures, Women Make Movies and IFP Spotlight on
Documentaries.
Director Lipper has released an extended
(10-minute) trailer for the film was commissioned by Gucci to launch their
global Chime for Change Campaign at TED 2013.
No word on when the film will make its official
debut, although it’s well on its way to completion and should premiere, likely
on the film festival circuit, within the next year.
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