Media Personality, Chude Jideonwo has announced the forthcoming release of his first film, “Awaiting Trial,” produced under Chude Jideonwo Studio.
“Awaiting Trial” is a documentary film that explores both the #EndSARS protests and the ‘deeper illness’ they point to – the phenomenon in Nigeria’s communal justice system called ‘awaiting trial’ where people are arrested and detained indefinitely without charge.
The film has been announced as both an official selection and a nominee for AFRIFF 2022.
On how the film came about
About 12 years ago, Toyin Oyemade invited Chude Jideonwo and others to outreach at the Kirikiri Prisons in Lagos, Nigeria. In the prison, Chude heard a heartbreaking story from an inmate he was helping. This person had been in prison for more than a decade. He was arrested before phones were available in Nigeria and, has been waiting for trial ever since. His family in the north doesn’t know if he is dead or alive.
I knew, somewhere in my heart, that if I ever followed the calling to make films, and no one had yet told this story, this was the first film I was going to make. Here we are, in 2022 and I am deeply thankful to my partners, team and courageous cast for the privilege of making that dream a reality.
What to expect
Over the next 24 months, the Chude Jideonwo Studio will release a series of factual and unscripted shows, like docuseries, docudramas, biopics, reality soaps, stand-up, and true crime, that tell stories about our shared humanity in a way that connects deeply with audiences in and from Africa.
There are so many unexplored stories, everyday in the news headlines, that tell us something meaningful about who we are and how we got here. But as we struggle to survive, we don’t go beyond the headlines, and we don’t find deeper truths.
“Awaiting Trial” was produced by Otito Aso and Gbolahan Gafar.
Watch the trailer below:
