93 Days 'Ebola' movie premieres at The Toronto International Film Festival

The hugely anticipated 93 Days ‘Ebola’ movie will be screened at the 2016 edition of The Toronto International Film Festival; an event which has an outstanding reputation for showing the best films from around the world. The movie premiere will take place at the TIFF on Friday, September 9th, 2016 at 9.30pm at the Isabel Bader Theatre in Toronto, Ontario Canada.
93 Days has been labelled as one of the most important movies to come out of Nigeria. The true-life movie details the Ebola epidemic in Nigeria, which had the entire nation at a standstill.
The movie gives a true account of how Nigeria was faced with the first case of the Ebola Virus and the victory the country achieved when the disease was eradicated after 93 Days.
Ebola found its way to Nigeria when American-Liberian, Patrick Sawyer (Keppy Ekpeyong Bassey) collapsed at the Muritala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos and was rushed to First Consultant Hospital for exhibiting symptoms of fever. After careful observation, the team at First Consultant Hospital led by Dr Ameyo Adadevoh (Bimbo Akintola) believed Mr Sawyer’s illness was more severe than fever and not long enough; he was diagnosed with the Ebola Virus Disease. Then, the journey began on how to control the spread of the life-threatening virus that could result into a national outbreak.

“93 Days is a masterfully crafted incredible story of bravery and sacrifice and is definitely a must see. It showcases the best of Nigeria, it’s powerful, gripping and an emotive piece. I am proud. “ – Bolanle Austen Peters, Producer, 93 Days 
The suspense filled thriller directed by award-winning movie director, Steve Gukas features the best of international and African movie acts such as TIFF rising star, Somkele Iyamah Idhalama, Danny Glover, Tim Reid, Alastair Mackenzie, Bimbo Akintola, Keppy Ekpeyong Bassey, Bimbo Manuel, Charles Okafor, Tina Mba, Gideon Okeke, Paul Adams, Francis Onwochei amongst others.
93 Days is a powerful movie that details defeat, triumph, heroism and a country’s determination to protect its people. For the first time in Television history in Nigeria, and with the expertise of talented producers, cast and crew, Nigeria tells its own story through film.
The film produced by Steve Gukas, Pemon Rami, Bolanle Austen-Peters and Dotun Olakunri would be showing in cinemas nationwide from the 16th of September 2016.

Seen the 93 Days 'Ebola' movie trailer? Watch it here!

The trailer to 93 Days; a movie which centers on the heroes who worked diligently and sacrificed their lives ro save millions of Nigerians from contracting the deadly Ebola virus disease  has been released; a compelling human story of dedication, sacrifice, resilience and survival, the film which was  inspired by late Dr Stella Adadevoh of First Consultants Hospital in Lagos and her courageous team was filmed for 10 weeks. 
Directed by Steve Gukas, the movie stars  Hollywood actors  Danny Glover and Tim Reid, Bimbo Akintola, Tina Mba ,Gideon Okeke, Keppy Ekpeyong, Franca Brown, Seun Ajayi to mention a few.
Synopsis
When Patrick Sawyer a Liberian American collapses upon arrival at the Murtala Mohammed International airport, Lagos – Nigeria. He is taken to First Consultant Hospital, where he is admitted with fever like symptoms.
Against his denials of contact with any Ebola victim in Liberia, the team at first consultant led by Dr. Ameyo Adadevoh quickly deduce there is more to his case than malaria. Their vigilance leads to an early detection that Mr Sawyer indeed had the Ebola Virus disease. Now it’s a race against time to contain a deadly disease from breaking out and infecting an entire city population and beginning what could be the biggest deadly disease outbreak the world has ever known.
The scare is palpable across the country. The doomsday scenario imagined is here.
Over a 93-day period from when Sawyer comes in men and women from Nigeria, WHO and MSF do battle with this deadly disease.
Read more on the movie and the cast and crew here and here

93 Days 'Ebola' Movie: Producers react to Dr Adedavoh's family claims

Few days ago, a report emanated from the family of late Stella Adedavoh, disapproving the 93 days Ebola film because some specific accounts were not correct and the producers didn’t seek their permission to use the late consultant’s image. name or likeness in the flick. Here’s an update. The Producers have reacted to the claims. Find their press release below.
“We hereby categorically and strongly deny all the allegations contained in the recent press statement released by one Dr Ama Adadevoh, who claims to be acting on behalf of the Cardoso and Adadevoh families. The said allegations are not only untrue they are malicious and scurrilous and a calculated attempt to sabotage our feature film, “93 Days”.   

 93 Days is not the biopic of any one individual and has never claimed to be the story of Doctor Stella Adadevoh. Whilst that in itself is a strong story, we found it more compelling to tell a story that celebrates many of the heroes of the fight against Ebola. These include the doctors, nurses and staff of First Consultant’s Hospital, the employees of the Lagos and Federal Ministries of Health, corporate and individual Nigerians who rose to the challenge of fighting the scourge as well as the WHO team that came in to help at the risk of personal injury and even death. 
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For us, this presented a more universal story of human courage, dedication and sacrifice that may inspire our great country and its people. Ours is a pride story that shows Nigeria at one of its finest hours and casts our country in a positive light around the world. To ensure the universal appeal of the film we enlisted, at great cost, Nigerian and International actors to feature in the film. Amongst these were Danny Glover, Keppy Ekpeyong and Bimbo Akintola.   
We want to state plainly that we do not require anyone’s consent to make the film as we have a constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of speech and expression. Besides, the matters portrayed in the film were derived from facts that are well within the public domain and those facts which were not already publicly known were provided to us by those privy to the said facts. For instance, we obtained additional information from interviews with the survivors of those who lost loved ones, volunteer doctors and nurses as well as officials of the Lagos State Ministry of Health. 
 
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To honor those protagonists of the Ebola story it was essential for us that the film be, as much as possible, an accurate, genuine and sincere record of the facts relating to the country’s efforts to fight the disease. In fact, that was the only way of doing justice to those brave individuals (and foreigners) who had given so much in the service of the country.    
 To this end and contrary to the allegations contained in the press statement released by Dr Ama Adadevoh, we enlisted the help of the Adadevoh and Cardoso families from day one. They gave their comments on the script and their amendments were incorporated into the final script. Further, the late Stella Adadevoh’s son, Bankole Cardoso, consented to the making of the film and to being portrayed in the film. Not only did he consent, he was kind enough to provide us with information concerning his late mother’s actions during those trying times. The facts provided by him proved useful in the development of the script and we have his interview on film should anyone require further proof. In essence, the story of Dr Stella Adadevoh depicted in the film was obtained partly from facts provided to us by the Adadevoh and Cardoso families and more importantly by her son, Bankole Cardoso.      
  We are aware that Dr Ama Adadevoh and certain elements within the family are involved in another film project on the Ebola story and are attempting to derail our film in the misguided belief that to do so would ensure the success of their film. It is plainly wrong for these people to try and monopolize the Ebola story exclusively for themselves by trying to prevent the making and release of a film that so many of the people concerned have supported and contributed to. 
 Our film features many of the people who were in the vanguard of the fight against the terrible disease.  Many of these people lost loved ones and made other sacrifices still unknown to a majority of Nigerians. They have supported the film and want their story told and it is only fair that their stories are told. 

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 In light of this, we fully intend to tell their story! In doing so we refuse to be bullied or cowed by empty, petty and ridiculous threats based on false and trumped up allegations.  

The Ebola Movie And The Nigerian Way | By: Joseph Edgar

Nigerian style of bad belle is beginning to creep into the very laudable movie project ’93 days’ being produced by the Amazon Bolanle Austen Peters and my very good friend Dotun.
For the first time in my writing career I am going to be heavily biased simply because of the injustice that is about to be unfolded. These duo Bolanle Austin Peters and Dotun Olakunrin with the enigmatic Director Steve Gukas came together to immortalize the efforts of not only Dr. Adadevoh but all the hard working and very passionate staff of the Fist Consultant Hospital in their fight against Ebola. That their efforts deserved to be preserved and celebrated cannot be contested hence the powerful decision by these three wonderful Nigerians to put the whole story on celluloid.
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They not only decided to shoot a movie, but went on about it with the highest level of integrity and professionalism. A value that is not common currency in today’s Nigeria, before embarking on this journey, they got all necessary permission including the permission of some of the closest blood relatives of Dr. adadevoh the main participant in this saga.
After this they got one of the most legendary Actors Danny Glover at a tremendous cost and flew him into the country for weeks of shooting and editing. I was privileged to be at one of the shoots and watched with amazement the powerful talents both local and international brought together by this trio to tell this story. The shoot took them to so many parts of the country and involved grueling hours of hard work and pain.
At the end of it all, the Nigerian factor has now reared its ugly head. Someone somewhere claiming progenitor to Dr. adadevoh not minding the fact that this story is in the public domain is now claiming ‘right’ on the story. The fact that she shares bloodline with the late Doctor now gives her a platform to now want to throw spanners in the wheel of this progress.
Look let me state it very clearly here that this story is a national story. It belongs to us all as Nigerians. It’s a story that more than ever before throws the very positive values of Integrity, self sacrifice and patriotism into the mix, values Nigerians are not known for at the global stage. Nobody has a right on this story and I dare say that Dr. adadevoh in her courage was only a vessel God used to highlight these qualities as being part of the Nigerian DNA.
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A story wildly reported cannot be said to be the copyright of an individual. People have the right to tell this story from any angle they want to. I have not yet gotten the details of this impending wahala but that will not stop me from beginning to shout and I I’ll shout even louder when I get all the details.
We must learn how to celebrate our heroes without fear of being taken to the cleaners. We must encourage people as they daily show uncommon courage. This has made other countries become great because of the selflessness of its Patriots and citizens and the way they are rewarded and celebrated. No doubt permission from the families of people to be depicted in vehicles like a motion picture must be sought and gotten and infact the final works in my own estimation must also receive clearance by the immediate families to make sure that there images and memories are protected before release to the public. This I am sure the promoters of this movie would have done judging from their pedigree.
But even this throws up some questions. If I was going to do a biopic of the Late Lawrence Anini would I seek permission from his family to depict him as he was? Would the family grant us permission to portray him for who he was, of course we all know the answer. So my point is that a national story must be freely told and depicted in such a way that truth is not compromised.
Like I said, I await more details, till then I have taken my stance and I really doubt if I will ever move from this position even as I consider telling my own Ebola story from my own angle permission or not.

*********************************************************************************Joseph Edgar is an investment banker who writes as a hobby. He comments on trending issues in Nigeria and around the globe from a satirical point of view. He blogs at josephedgarng.blogspot.com

Adedavoh family rejects Ebola movie, 93Days!

There seems to be a major hurdle in the way that may slow down the release of 93 days movie. The film traces the lives of brave men and women who fought hard to end the Ebola epidemic in Nigeria.

Produced by Steven Gukas and Bolanle Austen-Peters, the highly anticipated flick features Hollywood’s Danny Glover and top-flight Nollywood actors.

The clog in the wheel.

The family of the late Dr Stella Adedavoh, the main character in the movie has distanced itself from the production of the movie. According to a letter released by the family yesterday, not only did they get the script after the movie was completed, the producers didn’t seek the consent of the family to use the name, image or likeness of the late Consultant for commercial purposes.

To cut the long story short, it wasn’t endorsed by the family and some characters were wrongly portrayed.

Bimbo Akintola plays Dr Stella Adedavoh, Keppy Ekpeyong; Patrick Sawyer. Meet the cast of the Ebola-inspired movie, 93 days.

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Filming has started in earnest for the Ebola-inspired movie; 93 Days. The movie which stars Hollywood actor, danny Glover tells the story of the Ebola outbreak in Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria. 93 Days celebrates the act of doing what is right, selfless service and making a difference in the world.
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Directed by Steve Gukas and produced by Bolanle Austen-Peters, Dotun Olakunri and Steve Gukas., the movie tells the story of  dedication, sacrifice, resilience and survival and demonstrates the the heroic acts of  Dr Stella and her colleagues. Dr Stella passed on August 19 after contracting the deadly ebola disease.
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Veteran actress, Bimbo Akintola plays the role of the heroic Stella Adedavoh while Keppy Ekepeyong took that of the infamous Patrick Sawyer. Other members of cast include Charles Okafor, Tina Mba, Adebola Williams, Bimbo Manuel, Franca Brown, Gideon Okeke and many more.
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Our aim is to create a feature film that will resonate with many people across the world particularly in Nigeria and its sub-region”. At its core, 93 days is a tale of common humanity and just how much we can achieve when we stand united.” The Producers revealed.  
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93 Days Movie: Celebrating Dr Stella Adedavoh and other Ebola heroes

Nigerians will eternally remain grateful to Ebola heroes, most especially the late Stella Adedavoh who saved the lives of thousands of Nigerians by restraining a patient, Patrick Sawyerr, Nigeria’s index Ebola case at the First Consultant Hospital, Obalende, Lagos where she worked from leaving the hospital for a conference.

’93 Days’  a co-production between MichelAngelo Production, Production (BAP) and Natives FilmWorks, which centers on the true-life story of men and women who risked their lives and made sacrifices to save Nigerians from the consequences of the outbreak of the highly dreaded Ebola Virus Disease is underway.

Directed by Steve Gukas and produced by Bolanle Austen-Peters, Dotun Olakunri and Steve Gukas., the movie tells the story of  dedication, sacrifice, resilience and survival and demonstrates the the heroic acts of  Dr Stella and her colleagues. Dr Stella passed on August 19 after contracting the deadly ebola disease.


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The Producers of the movie disclosed that,  Our aim is to create a feature film that will resonate with many people across the world particularly in Nigeria and its sub-region”. At its core, 93 days is a tale of common humanity and just how much we can achieve when we stand united.
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