The Man Died, the powerful cinematic adaptation of Wole Soyinka’s harrowing prison notes, is set to captivate audiences at two prestigious film festivals.
The film will first screen at the Costa Rica African & Diaspora Film Festival (April 23-May 18), followed by a showing at the 32nd New York African Film Festival (May 7-29). These screenings underscore the film’s growing influence as a vital cultural artifact bridging African and diasporic storytelling.
The Costa Rica African & Diaspora Film Festival, organised by the Foundation for Art and Culture for Development, will feature The Man Died on Wednesday, April 23 (today), in Limon province, the heart of Costa Rica’s Afro-descendant community, and in the capital, San Jose.
In an invitation letter to producer Femi Odugbemi, Dr. Carol Patricia Britton Gonzalez, the foundation’s executive director, emphasised the film’s significance, saying: “We are confident that your work will significantly contribute to our goal of amplifying Afro-descendant narratives, which are often absent from movie theatres, cultural centres and universities in Costa Rica.”
To ensure broader accessibility, the film—already available in Arabic and French—will be subtitled in Spanish, facilitating its circulation across Latin America.
Following its Costa Rican debut, The Man Died will screen at the 32nd New York African Film Festival, co-presented by Film at Lincoln Center (May 7-13), Maysles Cinema (May 15-18), and Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) (May 23-29). The May 13 screening at Film at Lincoln Center marks another milestone in the film’s global journey.
The film’s festival run has been nothing short of spectacular. In March, it garnered three nominations at the 7th Jo’Burg Film Festival (Best African Film, Best Editing and Best Film) and enjoyed a successful academic screening at Pan African University in Atlanta, USA.
Looking ahead, The Man Died is slated for: The African Theatre Association (AfTA) Conference in Stuttgart, Germany (July 2025), Educational screenings at NYU, Harvard, Oxford, and institutions in Florence, Abu Dhabi, and Berlin, as well as potential distribution deals with three major global streaming platforms.
Featuring a stellar ensemble, the film stars: Wale Ojo as Wole Soyinka, Sam Dede as Yisa, Norbert Young as the Prison Superintendent, Christiana Oshunniyi (Laide Soyinka) and Abraham Awam-Amkpa (Johnson) in pivotal roles
Directed by Awam Amkpa—a NYU professor and acclaimed playwright—and produced by Femi Odugbemi (founder of Zuri24 Media), the film testifies to Soyinka’s resilience during his 27-month imprisonment in 1967.
Since its special premiere in Lagos in July 2024 (marking Soyinka’s 90th birthday), The Man Died has screened at: Quramo Festival of Words (Lagos, October 2024), London’s African Film Festival (October 2024), University of East Anglia (Norwich, UK) and NYU Accra’s Labone Dialogues (October 2024).
With its 105-minute runtime, the film blends historical gravitas with cinematic brilliance, offering an intimate look at Soyinka’s psychological survival under political persecution.
More at: http://www.themandiedmovie.com
