PATIENCE OZOKWO, JOKE SILVA SPEAK ON VICTIMS OF THE SOCIETY

Sunday, December 04,  2011
Nollywood greats, Patience Ozokwo, Joke Silva, and Alex Usifo recently locked horns in a new advocacy flick, Victims of the Society produced by actor and filmmaker, Elvis Chuks.

With this level of artistic combination, one couldn't expect anything less than a wonderfully executed movie; and this is exactly what we have. The movie is an advocacy flick artistically done in the aftermath effect of child abuses. It takes a holistic look at what happens when a child is turned into a monster, and when the monster is unleashed on the society. The movie explores the damaging effect of abuse and the role of the society.

Speaking about the movie, Patience Ozokwo said, 'The story is a very unique one. I was touched by the storyline of the movie when I read the script.

Many people have done stories concerning what people are passing through in the society, but they never touched it the way this script did. Look at the background of the girl in the movie, the foundation of the family. When the foundation is broken, every other thing goes wrong. So, the foundation matters a lot. Poverty, abject poverty, can lead one into a lot of things, lack of care from parents and government can lead our children to do bad things. For example, using their bodies to get what they want.

'This is the kind of movie we want to be doing now, topical movies that would tell stories that make impression anywhere in the world, not just stories that portray things in our society, but all societies around the world, not just Africans. Even the white people go through what is portrayed in this movie, which is an international standard movie,' Mama Gee said.

Also commenting on the movie, veteran actress, Joke Silva said, 'The movie treats various issues that affect our society such as human trafficking, the HIV/AIDS surge, child abuse, and women abuse. Personally, what I like about the movie is the topic, because you know when one form of abuse is left unchecked, it always leads to more abuses and it keeps going on and on like that. This is what happens in our present day society.'

The producer, Elvis Chuks, became popular with his roles in numerous Nollywood flicks and soap operas such as Super Story.  He is one of the very few that studied motion picture outside the shores of this country, where he bagged advanced diploma in filmmaking. Born in Abia State, he started his movie career when he featured in Tales by Moonlight, Sweet and Sour, and other sitcoms.

When asked who the target audience is, Elvis said, 'The movie is for the society, it is not for Nigeria alone, but the whole of Africa. According to reports, 75 per cent of people in the world had been victims of one abuse or the other. I am very passionate about this movie because the message cuts across social classes in our society and the world.'

Victims of the society paints a picture of a growing child from a remote area, who constantly witnessed the abuse of his mother by his drunken father, and had to come to terms with his two younger sisters, who hawked on the streets for survival. This movie is intended to sensitize people on the dangers of child neglect, child abuse and women abuse.