The 32nd African Film Festival New York (AFFNY) is set to showcase The Man Died, a 105-minute feature film inspired by the prison notes of Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka. The film will be screened at Lincoln Center, New York, on Tuesday, May 13, as part of the festival, which runs from May 7th to May 29th.
Directed by Awam Amkpa, a professor of Cultural Aesthetics at New York University (NYU), The Man Died is expected to draw a large and diverse audience. The festival anticipates a strong turnout from the Nigerian and African communities in New York, as well as from students and faculty at NYU.
The AFFNY, also known as the New York African Film Festival (NYAFF), was founded by filmmaker and activist Mahen Bonetti. It has established itself as a leading platform in North America for showcasing films and stories from Africa. This year, the festival is co-presented with Film at Lincoln Center (FLC) from May 7 to 13, and will continue at Maysles Cinema (May 15 – 18) and the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM – May 23 – May 29).
In her invitation to the film’s producer, Femi Odugbemi, Bonetti, who is also the Executive Director of the AFFNY, highlighted the festival’s theme: “Fluid Horizons: A Hopeful Lens of a Shifting World.” This theme, she explained, “honours the resilience of African youth and the forbearers that paved the way.”
Bonetti also emphasised the festival’s long-standing mission: “Since 1993, NYAFF and its collaborators have presented this festival, using cinema as a tool to bring African culture, history, and politics to thousands of viewers in the United States.”
The 32nd edition of the NYAFF promises a rich program of screenings, talks, exhibitions, panels, and African music, celebrating both established and emerging filmmakers and artists from Africa and the diaspora.
Director Awam Amkpa has also been invited to lead a masterclass on “the art of adaptation,” exploring the challenges and creative decisions involved in translating literary works to the screen. He will use The Man Died as a case study, examining how this unique Nigerian film reimagines Soyinka’s powerful text. The masterclass will also feature Angèle Diabang and her film So Long a Letter, an adaptation of Mariama Bâ’s feminist classic of the same name. The synopsis of the masterclass emphasises the enduring relationship between literature and cinema, and the new worlds that emerge when they meet.
The script for The Man Died is written by Bode Asiyanbi, a Nigerian screenwriter based in the United Kingdom. The film features a stellar cast of Nigerian actors, including Wale Ojo as Wole Soyinka; Sam Dede, Norbert Young, Francis Onwochei and Edmond Enaibe. International actors Christiana Oshunniyi (London) and Abraham Awam-Amkpa (Los Angeles) also star in the film.
Produced by Zuri 24 Media, The Man Died tells the story of Wole Soyinka’s 27-month imprisonment by the Nigerian government in 1967, during the Nigerian civil war. The film delves into Soyinka’s personal experiences during this period, his search for refuge from the brutality inflicted upon him, and his reflections on the events unfolding around him. The film’s website, www.themandiedmovie.com, provides further details on the synopsis.
Since its release in July 2024, coinciding with Soyinka’s 90th birthday, The Man Died has garnered significant attention on the global film circuit and in educational settings. It has been selected as a key attraction at the upcoming African Theatre Association (AfTA) annual conference in Stuttgart, Germany, in July 2025. The film is also being considered for screenings at universities and cultural institutions in Italy, the UAE, the USA, the UK and Germany. Additionally, several major streaming platforms and international distribution channels are currently reviewing the film.
Prior to its official release, The Man Died embarked on a global tour, beginning in London in July 2024 as part of the Wole Soyinka at 90 celebration. It was also screened at the African Film Festival in London and at the University of East Anglia, Norwich.
Other screenings include the Quramo Festival of Words (QFest) in Lagos, the Lagos Book & Art Festival (LABAF), and the African Film Festival (AFRIFF), where it won the Best Scriptwriting Award. The film also received the Best Audience Choice Award at the Eastern Nigeria International Film Festival (ENIFF) and the Best Film That Tackles an Important African Issue’ at the Luxor Int’l Film Festival. It has also been nominated for awards at the Pan African Film Festival (PAFF) and the Jo’Burg Film Festival.
Amkpa is a Nigerian-American professor at New York University (NYU) in New York and Abu Dhabi. He is a playwright, stage and film director, and curator of visual arts. He is the author of “Theatre and Postcolonial Desires” (Routledge, 2003) and has written extensively on representations in Africa and its diasporas. Interview
Odugbemi, who produced the film is the Founder/CEO of Zuri24 Media Lagos. He is a filmmaker, content producer and media scholar with over 25 years of experience in the creative industries. He was a founding producer of the daily soap opera Tinsel and Executive Producer of several popular TV series. Odugbemi is also the Co-Founder/Executive Director of the IREPRESENT International Documentary Film Festival Lagos and a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
