Increasing hype surrounding the release of the film adaptation of Chimamanda
Ngozi Adichie’s best seller Half of a Yellow Sun has put the spotlight onto the
beloved Biafran War-based story. Adichie recently featured on Britain’s Channel
4 News, where a short clip from the film was shown.
Winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction, a British literary award, Half of a Yellow
Sun takes place in Nigeria during the Nigeria-Biafran civil war which lasted from
1967 to 1970. It follows twin sisters Olanna and Kainene as it looks at the
dynamic relationships between them, a professor, a British citizen, and a
houseboy. The story takes us on a journey as we witness how their lives
drastically change due to the ensuing civil war and the decisions they all make in
their personal lives.
In a recent interview on the South to North show with Redi Thlabi on Al Jazeera
English, director Biyi Bandele shared what inspired him to make this movie. “The
moment I read the book about six years ago, I just fell in love with it. And I
became paranoid that if it was done by anyone from outside, they would make a
movie that I have seen so often before.’
He added: “I wanted a movie that depicted Africans as human beings and not
just statistics for NGOs’.
Bandele is a UK-based Nigerian novelist and playwright whose portfolio includes
works with the Royal Shakespeare Company. He studied and lived in Nigeria
before leaving for the UK in 1990. Some notable works are his stage adaptation
of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart (1999) and Burma Boy (2007), a play which
he wrote and directed. Half of a Yellow Sun is Bandele’s directorial debut.
According to producer Yewande Sadiku – also on South to North with Redi Thlabi
– the bulk of the funding for Half of a Yellow Sun came from Nigerian investors
who demanded a detailed memorandum of understanding focusing on their
distribution plans and how investors would recoup their money.
Says Sadiku: “Half of a Yellow Sun demonstrates what is possible with a made-
in-Nigeria produced film, with the right level of financing and with the right
quality of technical skills and equipment.’
Another aspect to the film that has led to excitement is its cast members. The
film has pulled in a collection of impressive Hollywood and Nollywood actors
namely Chiwetel Ejiofor (Inside Man, American Gangster, 2012), Thandie Newton
(Crash, Mission Impossible 2, The Pursuit of Happiness), Anika Noni Rose (The
Frog and the Princess, Dream Girls, No.1 Lady Detective Agency), Joseph Mawle
(Abraham Lincoln: The Vamipre Hunter, The Cold Light of Day), Hakeem Kae Kae-
Kazim (Hotel Rwanda, Pirates of the Caribbean, Man on Ground), John Boyega
(Attack the Block, Law and Order), Genevieve Nnaji (Doctor Bello, Ije: The
Journey), Babou Ceesay, Rob David, O.C Ukeje, Paul Hampshire, Zack Orji,
Susan Wokoma and Onyeka Onwenu.
On the South to North show with Redi Tlhabi, when Sadiku was asked if she
would place Half of a Yellow Sun in the same category as a typical Nollywood
story, she responded: “Half of a Yellow Sun is not a typical film.’
