Makemation is a breath of fresh air and different from the load of comedy and romance dramas that Nollywood is known for. The movie tells the story of Zara Sodangi, a Hausa teenage girl who dreams of doing more with her life than the expectations of her community. Her desire to do more supersedes her father’s desire for her to remain in the kitchen and that of the common women who want her to sell wares in the market. She dreams of technology, of making real change.
Zara comes from a rural community in Lagos, and the movie does well to show us the challenges she faced as a girl from a poor family with limited opportunities. Zara, however, gets support from her mother, brother, and a few friends, who propelled her to enter a tech program called Makemation. At the program, Zara gets motivated to fight for her dreams and become somebody in life.
Zara was also inspired by her father’s health issues – he was misdiagnosed, leaving his existence as a painful experience for his family. This makes her idea of a healthcare app feel meaningful and urgent. The directors, however, failed to clearly explain how her project transitioned from idea to software.
Don’t get me wrong, Makemation also comes with drama, especially the scenes involving the gossiping market women, street boys and traditions in Zara’s community. I just felt the directors did well to put them all together in a manner that made the drama in Makemation very different from what other Nollywood movies offer. The movie also has a bit of humour and energy. The best part is that none of that pulled focus away from the movie.
Directed by Michael Akinrogunde, Makemation stars Chioma Chukwuka Akpotha, Ibrahim Chatta, Jide Kosoko, Richard Mofe Damijo, Shaffy Bello, Tomi Ojo, Wumi Toriola, Yvonne Jegede, and others.
Tomi Ojo stars as Zara, and her performance felt natural and believable. I always enjoy it when a lead character is played by a fresh actor. It makes me see the actor as the character. In this case, Tomi Ojo portrayed the character of a 17-year-old brave girl with high hopes in the face of hopelessness. I enjoyed the scenes involving Zara and her mother (Chioma Akpota), who was her strength in her journey. Her dad, Jato, was played by Ibrahim Chatta, who perfectly portrayed the complexity of a man torn between tradition and love for his daughter. A touching scene was when he smashed Zara’s laptop, which she was counting on for the Makemation programme.
The supporting actors were carefully selected for their purpose. I also liked how the directors handled the character of the one-legged tech staff member. For most of the movie, her disability is treated normally, just part of life. However, I found it awkward and unnecessary that the directors had to explain her backstory.
Makemation is a movie about technology, and the directors didn’t fail in displaying some technology, even though most of it was a roughly put-together CGI. I think attention to detail was implemented in the classroom scene that had sophisticated computers and gadgets, making the atmosphere look very techy.
Makemation boasts of some nice visuals, especially the motorpark garage where Zara’s mother sells Akara. The atmosphere looks chaotic, and the best representation of a major part of the life that Lagos is known for. I noticed that the outdoor scenes of the ghetto parts of Lagos always looked awesome in terms of visuals and colour grading. But the moment the scenes transition to the modern side of Lagos, the pictures look like a washed-up REC709 image. The sound editing is good, especially the infusion of robotic sounds to give the atmosphere a techy feel.
I’ll recommend Makemation for parents and kids because the movie is inspiring. It blends good storytelling with drama, which makes it fit for any kind of Nigerian. I’ll advise the producers to ensure the movie airs in classrooms to inspire this generation. It gets a 7/10 rating for pushing Nollywood a bit away from its comfort zone of just comedy, drama, and romance.
