Lonzo Nzekwe, is a Nigerian-Canadian filmmaker based in Toronto, Canada. He creates transnational Nigerian content, and has produced some award winning movies such as Anchor Baby, Meet The Parents and Orah.
In this interview with Stanley Ugagbe of The Nigerian Canadian Newspaper, Canada, the self-taught filmmaker, Nzekwe who writes, directs and produces most of his film projects, shared insight on how he started filmmaking and the journey so far.
NCNC: You’re quite an accomplished filmmaker with several notable awards to your name. Tell us a bit about yourself, growing up, and some of the childhood experiences that shaped who you are today.
Lonzo: I was born in Nigeria and then I left Nigeria around 1997; and lived in different parts of the world…the UK, US, Canada. Triangulated but I’m currently based in Canada. So growing up I had my comedy viewers in Nigeria. I went to Nursery, Primary, and Secondary schools in Imo state. So, that’s part of what shaped my upbringing. So, the experiences I had growing up in school and all that are the things that shaped me as a man when I left the country and started fending for myself outside Nigeria.
NCNC: At what point did you realize that filmmaking is what you wanted to do? How did you work your way to stardom and how does it feel to be at the top?
Lonzo: I got into filmmaking around 2009 and 2010, before that and even when I was in Nigeria I’ve always been involved in some type of entertainment but mostly music. So, growing up I loved hip-hop music, R&B, and soul music. So at a point I became a Music producer. I did a course as a recording engineer and became a music producer; I owned my independent record label back then! But then after a while, probably around 1999, I did that for a few years and then sometime, I started losing the passion for making music. I kind of like stopped making music but still had love for the entertainment industry and then around 2009, I enrolled in a course to do film editing. So I took a formal course in film editing. In the process of doing that, I started developing passion for making films. So instead of going to film school, I taught myself how to make films pretty much by watching a lot of movies and also the “behind the scenes,” making of the movies. Back then we had DVDs, so when you buy the DVDs in the back, after the movies you will have the making of the film or “Behind the scenes” So, most times I will watch those videos just to see how the directors and the filmmakers made that film. So that was my introduction to filmmaking. So in the process of learning how to be an editor, I wrote my first screen play “Anchor Baby”. I wrote that in two and a half weeks and then shot the movie. Then this was me not going to film school, and not having any film self-experience. I just bought a camera, back then it was called the red camera. I bought the red camera and shot my first film which was “Anchor Baby”, and you can watch that today on Netflix.
NCNC: You recently won an award to add to your growing collection of wards. Tell us about it and what it means to you and your career.
Lonzo: My current film “Orah” won Outstanding Screenplay at the Reelworld International Film Festival in Toronto, Canada. So it won Best Screenplay and my Lead Actress Oyin Oladejo won Best Actress at the film festival. I’m excited. It’s an honour to be awarded at a prestigious international film festival like REELWORLD. So we are all super excited. It goes on to validate the film more to show that there is something worth watching in the movie. So I’m looking forward to when the film will be released to the general public to see.
NCNC: Your work seamlessly blends Nigerian and Canadian cultural elements. How do you navigate the challenge of representing two distinct cultures in your films while ensuring authenticity?
Lonzo: I write and direct my own stories at this point in my career. So I pretty much try to tell the truth. And so it’s not a challenge or it’s not a hard thing for you to do when you’re telling something, a story about things you know, and when I tell stories about things that I know, it would include both cultures because I pretty much lived half of my life in Nigeria and half of my current life now here in Canada. So it’s more of me sharing the stories of my life or things that I’ve experienced directly or indirectly through some other people. So it’s not a big deal for me in terms of like telling a story as long I tell them without pulling any punches, without trying to sugarcoat it. So whenever I tell a story of things that I know, it would involve both cultures. So that’s how I go about doing it. Sometimes you may have just elements of just one of the cultures like what I’m currently developing which I’m not at liberty to discuss. Not Orah, Orah is kind of half Nigeria and Canada but what I’m currently writing now is mostly said in Nigeria but you will also see elements of the Canadian culture even if it’s how a particular character talks or how they react to things. So as long as the story there has something to do with me, it will somehow have elements of both cultures.
NCNC: As a filmmaker straddling two cultural identities, how do you use your work to explore and challenge preconceptions about identity, both personally and within a broader societal context?
Lonzo: All the works that I’ve, all the things that I’ve done, they’re things that I created myself. So I tend to write authentic stories and that is how I explore and tackle all these challenges that you mentioned and the preconceptions. When you tell the truth, you’re just putting it out there for the public to look at it and say okay, this is how he sees the world and then, I try as much as possible not to be a judge. When I give you a message, I put everything in there for you to make up your mind. I’m almost like a presenter by saying okay this is what happens in my world or this is what happens in this world that I know of and it’s for you to now come up with your way of seeing it. I do this without pulling punches, without trying to put my hand in the middle and trying to direct you in a way. I just present the characters and they come with their logic, problems, their beliefs, and everything. It’s for you now to explore further from what I’m doing, from what I’m presenting to you so that’s my way. I don’t believe in stories that try to preach to people or try to tell you this is wrong and this is right. I present the situation, then it’s for you as an audience to look at them and say this is right, this is wrong and in my own stories, there’s no right or wrong where you can do things. It’s always this is how this character sees it and in their mind, they feel like this is their truth. It’s for you now as an audience to say I don’t agree or I agree with those characters. So, that’s how I bring purpose to topics like that. Like in my last film “Orah,” part of the film was inspired by something that happened to me when one of my brothers was murdered in Nigeria. But it wasn’t a movie for me to come there and just be talking about that but it’s for me to put situations that the characters went through, similar to what I went through, and try to figure out what happened to my brother and then put you in the state of mind that I was in when I was going through that because it was a revenge. Some of those thoughts or things that I went through, some of the things that I considered knowing that even if I went ahead and did it, it would have been a stupid act for me but I channeled it through my characters to say okay if I had the opportunity this is what I would have done in that situation.
NCNC: Being part of the Nigerian and Canadian film industries, what unique challenges and opportunities have you encountered, and how do you see the two industries influencing each other in your work?
Lonzo: The biggest challenge for me is raising funds for films. The stories I tell happen in both worlds – both Nigeria and Canada. So, the challenge of raising money to make these films is quite a huge one because they don’t come cheap. And there’s a quality my films are expected to have and for me to have that, I have to have a certain type of budget in other to make the film. So I can have a story but building that type of funding in a place like Nigeria which has a limit to the amount of money people will put into a film over there in Nigeria whereas that type of funding here in Canada is what we consider a very low-budget film. And because I am competing with other English language films around the world, you have to make your film at a certain budget level.
On how I see the industries influencing each other, the Nigerian industry is growing and with the emergence of streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon, we will see a lot more great stories coming out from that part of the world. These streaming platforms have presented unique opportunities to the industry.
NCNC: Your films often involve collaborations with diverse teams. How do you approach building a creative team that can effectively capture and represent the nuances of the stories you want to tell?
Lonzo: That is a very good question and I appreciate you asking me that because one thing I have noticed in the industry is, it is like filmmaking is now a one-man thing. Being a director, if you can communicate your idea to the right people, you will make a good film. Putting a team together is one of the smartest things a filmmaker can do and I try to do that as much as possible. Even if I am not working; I am always looking for the right people, the right production designer, the right costume person, and the right sound person, and networking with people like that so that when I have a project, I know who to call. Both in Nigeria and Canada, I have a solid team that I can always contact. Know the right people, watch the other films they have done and in that way, you can know if they can deliver.
NCNC: What strategies do you employ to ensure that your films resonate with both Nigerian and Canadian audiences, considering the distinct cultural contexts they bring to the viewing experience?
Lonzo: The number one thing is being super authentic. In all the stories that I have told, I tried to pull no punches, meaning that I don’t sugarcoat it, I tell it how it is. Authenticity is very important to me, telling the truth is very important to me whenever I tell my stories and I come to realize that those are things that tend to make people want to see my films. I also watch great films by other people and try to incorporate what I have learned from people who have been in it for years. I try to educate myself a lot.
Having lived in these places, I understand what would work for both so when I write, my stories are influenced by both cultures.
NCNC: Looking ahead, how do you envision the future of Nigerian-Canadian cinema, and what steps do you believe need to be taken to further promote diversity and representation in the industry?
Lonzo: I envision the Nigerian cinema growing. From my experience from when I released Anchor Baby, there were only about six cinemas in Nigeria but when I went to Nigeria a few months ago, I saw that a lot more cinemas have come into play. A lot more quality films are being made. I see the cinema growing in terms of quality, in terms of sophistication, in terms of the experience level of the filmmakers and the audience is getting smarter. I see the industry growing especially with the budget growing with the advent of Netflix and Amazon, showmax, and every other streaming platform that has come into play. Also, the cinema culture is growing.
In terms of promoting diversity between Nigeria and Canadian cinema, I am a big advocate of a co-production treaty between the two industries.
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