With the theme centered on Nigeria’s preparedness for the COVID19 pandemic, Daria Media Ltd and Zuri24Media have presented a 117-minute documentary film titled Unmasked.
The documentary was produced and presented by ace Journalist, Kadaria Ahmed and award-winning filmmaker, Femi Odugbemi.
With support from the MacArthur Foundation and PLACNG, the documentary unmasked the preparedness level of Nigeria to the pandemic and provided an expose into how the pandemic presents an opportunity for Nigeria to reset.
“Last year was surreal and difficult. COVID came to Nigeria. It was clear even before the first case, that this is a momentous period.
With award-winning documentary filmmaker Femi Odugbemi and the support of PLACNG & MacArthur Foundation, we set out to tell this story. Unmasked was born,” Ahmed explained in a statement.
“The COVID pandemic was always going to test Nigeria, given its soft underbelly of corruption, poor healthcare infrastructure, weak systems and an ever-increasing number of its population living below the poverty line.
“The strain on the social fabric of our society given our existing, some might even say existential problems, was easy to predict. But is there a silver lining? Does the COVID pandemic present an opportunity for Nigeria to reset?
“We travelled Nigeria to document this historical moment and tackle questions of leadership, governance and trust, which were brought to the fore by the pandemic; the answers to which Nigeria needs to find rather urgently.
“Unmasked was made possible through the support of PLACNG, Mac Arthur Foundation and the tireless work of the Zuria24media team, Ruona J. Meyer and The Daria Media Team, Nicholas Ibekwe and participation by many policymakers, frontline healthcare workers, experts and regular Nigerians who lost loved ones to COVID who helped us tell this story,” she stated.
Ahmed also disclosed that the team experienced devastating losses including that of a team member while filming the documentary.
On his part, Odugbemi similarly highlighted the numerous challenges the crew encountered while filming the documentary in a post on his social media platforms.
“Exactly a year ago we began this project with the amazing ace journalist and Founder CEO of Daria Media and with the kind support of PLACNG and Mar Arthur Foundation. Our crew deserves a Purple Heart for bravery surely! We came face-to-face with the deadly virus on many fronts. We lost loved ones – my brother was one, Ahmed’s beloved Uncle was another.
“We filmed inside isolation centers and Intensive Care Units, ICU in Lagos, and Kaduna fully kitted in Personal Protective Equipment, PPE. We filmed in slums full of hungry and desperate people and watched vacant-eyed Almajiri children and mass funerals in Kano.
“The film is a sober but riveting journey through our challenges as a nation in desperate times,” he stated.
To Odugbemi, Unmasked is an important film and he hopes many will get a chance to watch it. He also promised to announce screening schedules soon.