Friday, April 11, 2014

Chiwetel Ejiofor on shooting Half of a Yellow Sun in rural Nigeria

 Chiwetel Ejiofor has said he felt it was "correct" to shoot Half Of A Yellow Sun in rural Nigeria despite filming difficulties, because they were the areas most affected by the war.

Oscar nominee Chiwetel's latest film is an adaptation of the book Half Of A Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie, which tells the story of four people caught up in the Biafran War and Niferia's struggle for an independent republic.

Talking about the filming location, the 36-year-old star said: "Whenever I've been to Nigeria in the past, I've been to Lagos, Abuja and Nogu, which is where my family are and it's a bit more rural but it's in, comparatively to where we were [filming] in Calabar, it's very industrialised.

"We were out in a very rural part of Nigeria, which really made sense for the story, but it has its own challenges, just in terms of getting to places and moving equipment.

"So yeah it was complicated, but it's completely beautiful as well and so correct for the film."

He continued: "The nature of the Biafran War was so much of the struggles happened in the small villages. They were the people who really suffered as a result of the conflict.

"It felt correct to get out there and tell the story in that way."

The 12 Years A Slave star has spoken before about his own family's involvement in the war, including his grandfather's, and added that he was pleased to be able to tell a story so personal to him.

He said: "I'd always understood its very profound relevance to me and my family history and so I was excited about getting a bit of that out there and talking about it all."

Half Of A Yellow Sun is in cinemas now.

Belfast Telegraph

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