Thunderbolt

A story from the burgeoning video industry of Nigeria combines melodrama and issues of ethnicity, gender, culture and identity in post-colonial Africa.

THUNDERBOLT will come as a bolt out of the blue to most Americans, even aficionados of African cinema. The new Nigerian video industry is without doubt one of the most vibrant new developments in the world cinema today.

The first half of the film is in a sense a retelling of the Othello story - except the protagonists are not Abyssinian and Venetian but Yoruba and Ibo. In the second half of the film, a distinctly West African emphasis on the supernatural comes to the fore; curses and ritual cleansing take the place of psychological explanations.

"A simple and edifying story immersing us in a culture of strong values, hard realities and contradictions. Truly epitomizes the new African videos - the "first cinema' of the anglophone region." - N. Frank Ukadike, Tulane University

"If the continuous laughter and cheering of our diverse New York audiences is any indication, this film has true international appeal." - Mahen Bonetti, New York African Film Festival