A hot, sweat-soaked day in Creek Town during the Half of a Yellow Sun shoot. Every day in Creek Town was hot and sweat-soaked during the HOAYS shoot. This photo of Biyi Bandele was taken less than a week into the shoot.
‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ a screen adaptation of Chimamanda Adichie’s bestselling novel of the same name finally opened in Nigeria cinemas on August 1st, 2014. The historic movie flew straight to the top of the charts in every cinema in Nigeria. Ticket sales of HOAYS accounted for over 50 percent of total box office takings and beat Marvel/Disney’s Guardian of the Galaxy. All these are prove that Africans love African movies,historic movie precisely and are hungry for more!
Biyi Bandele Director and Screenplay writer of Half of a Yellow Sun, released some great backstage pictures on his Facebook page, taking his time to explain each and every picture reminiscing.
Describing each and every picture he wrote: “A day or so later, I was in hospital, for twelve delirious hours – on drips and being injected in the thigh every fifteen minutes with insulin. Severe dehydration coupled with type-2 Diabetes. As a result of this, the production had to shut down for two days. Two days later, I was back on my feet. And we made it. We made Half of a Yellow Sun. And I wouldn’t have traded that experience for anything else. I still wouldn’t”.
Creek Town: Anti-clockwise, Chiwetel Ejiofor (Odenigbo), Thandie Newton (Olanna), Joseph Mawle (Richard), John Boyega (Ugwu), and Biyi Bandele.
“The hacks are safe; the originals are out on a limb – which is where they belong, of course. Are there more originals today, or less? Are movies finished, or have we scarcely started? It’s like that great remark of Chesterton’s: “Nobody knows,” he said, “ whether the world is old or young.” Directing is at most an art for one minute per day. This minute is terribly crucial, but it happens only rarely. You might say that a director is a man who presides over accidents – ‘ Orson Welles.
“With the great Joe Mawle (Richard) and the sensational John Boyega (Ugwu) in Creek Town. At the end of the Half of a Yellow Sun shoot, I was given a hard drive packed with stills from it. But I’ve only now, two years after the shoot, looked at them. I didn’t realise at the time that the camera was constantly being turned on me. It was a tough shoot, brothers and sisters. I kid you not. But I was blessed. We made it“
“Creek Town: All eyes on the monitor: with Chiwetel, Thandie, and John, watching the playback of a scene we’d just shot. We’d nailed it“.
“The amazing Onyeka Onwenu (Mama) arrives on set in Calabar. With her, Alex Holt, Half of a Yellow Sun’s incredibly talented and hard-working 2nd Assistant Director”.
“Thandie Newton (Olanna) and Onyeka Onwenu (Mama) pretty cosy here but about to go slug it out on set (and in front of the cameras)“.
“In conversation with Andrew McAlpine, my Kiwi Production Designer, in Calabar. Andrew production-designed Jane Campion’s The Piano, one of my favourite movies. I approached him to work on Half of a Yellow Sun after I saw An Education, which he also production-designed and which I liked very much. Andrew is a genius.
“On set in Calabar. To my left, Focus Puller Robert Palmer, ready for action.
Half of a Yellow Sun is out on Blu-Ray, DVD, EST, VOD, PanaTV!
