6/6/13

Last Flight to Abuja

Stories with unrelated people whose lives intersect in a crashing climax, e.g., "Crash" or "The Bridge at San Luis Rey," are a big hit with me. This award-winning but wonderfully pulpy Nollywood film (from Nigeria's burgeoning film industry) is one such feature. Strictly low-budget with very little Computer Generated Imaging (Yippee!), our 2013 Seattle Inter- national Film Festival screening audience was treated to a variety of people, all of whom intend to take an evening flight to Abuja, the capital of Nigeria.

As directed by Nigeria's rising star Obe Emelonye, we have many articulate, well-educated, witty people to root for (my favorite!), to deride, and to wonder about. This audience-pleasing thriller has an in-flight emergency announcement that is shown three times. Each time, we know more of the stories about the people on board, how they got there, and what they hope to achieve.

As a former pilot, I appreciate the treatment given the flight crew: despite our first impressions, they are hard-working, decent folks who really know their jobs!

Among many characters, we can expect:
  • A felon, who has a large quantity of money on board;
  • An ex-fiancĂ©e, who just caught her guy with another woman;
  • A rejected lover, trying to focus on his job;
  • A father, who spoils his little girl, much to his wife's chagrin;
  • A diabetic, who thinks dying of diabetes is preferable to dying in a plane crash;
  • A co-pilot, whose co-workers think is a lesbian because she flies airplanes.
If this is a sample of the films we can expect from Nollywood, just tell me where to buy my tickets; this one is excellent! The frequent flashbacks are informative and further the story. In addition, we have more invested with each character as we come to know him or her better; AND it provides terrific, unobtrusive captions, despite the dialog being in English. Whew!
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This U-Tube preview is provided by SIFF:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFPz0_uQoFo
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