"The Milkmaid": First look Exclusive Interview with the Director
of Movie you gotta see
Sunday morning, flicking through news channels I chanced on a Nigerian breakfast show that held my attention between mouthfuls of cereal. Four women around a table were discussing a new movie called The Milkmaid. Clips were played as one woman said she hoped the movie would get the chance to be screened at Cannes, and have the chance of being seen at the Toronto Film Festival. This was not just an ordinary movie —The Milkmaid was one of the best movies to ever come out of Nigeria.
Every so often there comes along a movie that will change everything. Parasite did it at this year Academy Awards and I’m laying money that The Milkmaid will win awards and do the same at next year’s Oscars. This movie is a game changer—a work of brilliance, a compelling harrowing tale that does what all great works of art should do: make the viewer question what is going on in the world.
It’s inspiration comes from real events. In April 2014, 276 female students were kidnapped from a school in Chibok, Borno State, Nigeria. The girls had been kidnapped by Boko Haram, an Islamist extremist terrorist organization operating out of the north-east of the country. The kidnapping brought condemnation from across the world. After some of the girls were released, the story and interest in the lives of these girls and the people tragically caught in the crossfire between terror and extremism were soon forgotten. Filmmaker Desmond Ovbiagele thought something ought to be done to highlight the psychological trauma, displacement and economic impoverishment extremism inflicts on society. He started writing a screenplay about Aisha, a Fulani milkmaid, searching for her younger sister, who approaches the religious militants responsible for their separation. Ovbiagele has crafted a powerful piece of cinema which he hopes will bring “attention to the present plight of real-life victims of militant insurgency in Nigeria (internally displaced persons, IDPs), to generate support for their economic and psychological rehabilitation and social re-integration.” His film offers a discourse on the very real threats posed by extremism.
Shot over three months in Nigeria, The Milkmaid stars Anthonieta Kalunta in her film debut as Aisha, with Maryam Booth as her sister Zainab, and Gambo Usman Kona as Dangana. Unlike most movies pumped out by Hollywood or Marvel or Disney or whoever, The Milkmaid is an important, complex film, a substantial work of art that addresses issues pertinent to all of our lives. What it needs now is to be seen by as many people as possible.
I contacted writer and director Desmond Ovbiagele to find out more about him and the making of his movie.
How did you start making The Milkmaid?
Desmond Ovbiagele: I completed and released my first feature film in 2014, a locally set (in Nigeria) crime drama. Spent the next three years recovering from that interesting experience. Then early 2017, felt I was ready to get back into the fray, and commenced writing the script for what turned out to be my next feature, The Milkmaid.
What was your inspiration for the film?
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