Idris Elba, Mo Abudu, Seal, Nse Ikpe-Etim & Constance Olatunde Photo Credit: Nicky Hamilton/Kelechi Amadi Obi/Getty
Idris Elba, star of Luther and Hijack, will direct the short film ‘Dust To Dreams’, starring singer Seal, Nollywood stars Nse Ikpe-Etim (Shanty Town), Eku Edewor (Breath Of Life), Atlanta Bridget Johnson (Man Of God), and former Nigerian Idol competitor Constance Olatunde.
African Export Import Bank (Afreximbank) and Mo Abudu’s EbonyLife Films worked together on the movie via Canex, the Creative Africa Nexus.
The film, which is set in Lagos, Nigeria, is on the connection between a mother and her teenage daughter as they prepare for the daughter’s first meeting with her father.
While Mo Abudu is the creator, Elba is the writer and director and Heidi Uys is the supervising producer. Mo Abudu is still the executive producer. Producers Vanessa Demme, Inem King, and Temidayo Makanjuola are working on the project with Abudu and Uys.
The British actor Elba, who won a Golden Globe and is of Ghanaian and Sierra Leonean heritage, and Nigerian media magnate Abudu declared last year that they would be collaborating to support up-and-coming African talent and produce a series of African motion pictures and television programmes. In 2018, Elba directed his first feature film, Yardie.
Seal, who is of a Nigerian mother, multi-Grammy winner and former America’s Got Talent judge, has played a few dramatic roles to date. He made a brief cameo as himself in the 2022 comedy film Me Time, starring Mark Wahlberg and Kevin Hart, and he played Pontius Pilate in the 2016 Fox musical drama The Passion.
Under the direction of the African Development Bank, Afreximbank is a pan-African multilateral financial institution that was established in the early 1990s.
“I am delighted to be working with Afreximbank and this incredibly talented team. Dust To Dreams is a story close to my heart, and I’m thrilled to bring it to life with such passionate collaborators” said Abudu of the collaboration.
“The partnership with EbonyLife Films is a testament to our commitment to empowering Africa’s creative economy through the Canex Programme,” said Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of Afreximbank. The Bank is dedicated to helping the creative industries in Africa by offering funding, assistance, solutions for market access, capacity building, and other services.
