Freddie Films’ Floyd Kane (Diggstown) saw an opportunity to tell a Canadian immigrant story with the film Orah, but with the “visual fervour” that shooting the film in the character’s home country would provide. But while the film centres on a Nigerian character, the shoot almost moved to South Africa, a country with which Canada has a copro treaty.

The revenge-drama, written and directed by Nigerian-Canadian filmmaker Lonzo Nzekwe and produced by Kane and Toronto-based Circle Blue Entertainment’s Amos Adetuyi, was eventually shot in Canada and Nigeria, setting the groundwork for a discussion on the need for a copro treaty between the two countries.

Said Kane in the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) Microsession panel Lights, Camera, Collaboration: Orah and the possibilities of Nigeria-Canada partnership: “I think, for me, when Lonzo first approached us – both myself and my producing partner Amos Adetuyi – with the script, what I thought right away was the Steven Soderbergh film, The Limey. [It’s] one of my favourite movies. Right away, I saw this is The Limey but with a Black female protagonist. So, conceptually, I just loved the idea.” The panel was hosted by Black Screen Office’s co-founder and executive director, Joan Jenkinson, and also included Nzekwe, and founder and CEO of Known Associates Tshepiso Chikapa-Phiri (Death of a Whistleblower).

“And then what further attracted me to the project was the opportunity to actually make a film that was about someone who was an immigrant to Canada who then returned to their own country, and the opportunity to actually go there and to shoot. Those were the elements that really stuck with me in terms of wanting to make this happen,” noted Kane.

Orah, starring Oyin Oladejo (Star Trek: Discovery), was produced with participation of Telefilm Canada, the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC), and the Ontario Creates Film Fund.

And it came with its share of complications without a treaty in place.

“It’s difficult because, first and foremost, with Ontario Creates, for example, you’re not allowed to shoot outside of Canada unless there’s a treaty copro. We had to have some conversations back and forth with them regarding that.

“And then, secondly, with respect to getting your federal tax credit, if you’re not a treaty copro you have to be very careful about how much money you’re spending outside of the country. Because otherwise you lose your CAVCO designation and your federal tax credits, which, you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars is a fairly big deal when you’re making a movie for $1.5 [to] $1.7 million,” said Kane.

The film is now represented by CAA, which came on board during TIFF andwill handle sales in all territories excluding Canada. Canadian distribution is handled by levelFILM.

The authenticity of the story was very important to Lonzo, who said the “integrity” of the film would have been compromised if it went to South Africa.

“If we had shot in South Africa, yeah, it would look good. But there are 200 million people in Nigeria that will know, and they won’t buy the story, and for me as a filmmaker, it will be something I would’ve had to live with for the rest of my life. I see it in a lot of films. You go and watch a movie, and they go to South Africa and try to pick somebody from the U.S. and try to get them to play Mandela,” said Lonzo.

Korean filmmakers seek to make their mark

Canadian actor-writer-director Anthony Shim says he is happy with the success of Korean films in North America, but cautions against it being seen as a “trend that came and went.”

Shim, whose most recent film Riceboy Sleeps follows the story of a Korean mother and son as they restart their life as immigrants in Canada, made the comments during a TIFF Perspectives industry panel titled Celebrating the Cinema of the Korean Diaspora.

Although the panel was focused on Korea, Shim said to leave a lasting mark in cinema it was important to make “really good films, first and foremost” – adding “if it does have to do with Korea or Korean people, then fantastic.”

The overarching themes of discussion during the panel included identity and universality vs. specificity of stories, as well as navigating expectations as diaspora filmmakers. The panel included Toronto-based Korean-Canadian director Albert Shin (Disappearance At Clifton Hill), U.S. film producer Christina Oh (Minari), who is of Korean descent, and queer Korean American filmmaker Andrew Ahn (Fire Island). The panel was moderated by Seoul-born, Toronto-based writer-director Helen Lee (Hers at Last).

“For me, it’s not just about being Korean or being a Korean-Canadian film[maker] … it’s also about trying to make something that comes from me specifically,” said Shin.

The filmmakers also discussed the difficulties of making authentic films with large budgets because “there are only so many Asian, Korean actors of a certain status that can greenlight a budget of a certain size,” said Ahn. “And so you have to either get one of those actors, or you have to make a super tiny movie, or you have to have grant funding.”

The filmmakers also spoke about being bombarded with questions and pitches about K-pop, congratulatory messages over the success of Parasite and questions about Crazy Rich Asians – neither of which any of them had anything to do with.

Image courtesy of the Black Screen Office