Mo Abudu (CEO of EbonyLife Films) has announced that the company’s upcoming Netflix Original, Elesin Oba: The King’s Horseman, will have its world premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) happening September 8–18 in Toronto, Canada.
Sharing the announcement on Instagram, Abudu said the film would feature in the Special Presentation category of the festival, the first Yoruba language film to do so:
Hello beautiful people ❤️❤️❤️
BREAKING NEWS!!!
EbonyLife Films and our co production partners Netflix are pleased to announce that Elesin Oba, The King’s Horseman, will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September 2022. Elesin Oba will feature in the prestigious Special Presentation category, the first Yoruba language film to do so. The original Death and the King’s Horseman was a stage play, written by Prof. Wole Soyinka, who won Africa’s first Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986. It is the first time that one of Soyinka’s works has been made into a feature film. The screen adaptation was written and directed by Biyi Bandele.
Cameron Bailey, a Canadian film critic and the CEO of The Toronto International Film Festival – stated, “It was a pleasure to see Soyinka’s words and his mastery of tragic drama transformed into cinema. Odunlade Adekola gives a grand, impressive performance.”
To our amazing Stars and crew Thank you all so much ❤️??❤️
To our partners NETFLIX, thank you for partnering with us once again and to TIFF thank you for selecting our work to be featured in your 2022 Special Presentation Category !
We move ??????
Mo Abudu
In its 47th year, the Toronto International Film Festival is, according to Wikipedia, one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Elesin Oba will join the likes of Genevieve Nnaji’s Lionheart, which also screened at the festival in 2018.
Abudu’s announcement did not end at the festival news as she also unveiled the cast and crew of Elesin Oba today. Biyi Bandele is the director and also responsible for the film’s screen adaptation, while Abudu is the executive producer. The film stars Odunlade Adekola, Shaffy Bello, Olawale ‘Brymo’ Olofooro, Deyemi Okanlawon, Omowunmi Dada, Jide Kosoko, Mark Elderkin, Jenny Stead, Langley Kirkwood, Kevin Ushi, Drikus Volschenk and Fares Boulos ‘Oyibo Rebel’. Special guest appearances are by Ajoke Silva and Taiwo Ajai-Lycett.
Elesin Oba: The King’s Horseman is produced by Judith Audu, Adeola Osunkojo, James Amuta and Quinty Pillay.
No release date yet for the Netflix Original film.
