Nigerian filmmaker cum actor, Pascal Atuma, would soon hit the cinema nationwide with his latest movie, Imported Wives.
The film highlights the challenges being faced by most Diaspora Nigerian men who decide to come home to marry and then return abroad with their wives.
Produced and directed by Canada-based Pascal Atuma, and executive produced by Joy Njemobi Madubuike, Imported Wives narrates the story of a Canada-based Nigerian who returns home to pick a wife and then relocates to Canada with her. Upon reaching Canada, she turns against her husband after being brainwashed by some divorced or separated Nigerian women residing in Canada.
The movie parades a stellar cast of Patience Ozokwor, Benjamin Joseph, Omoni Oboli, Nancy Isime, Linda Osifo, Lucy Ameh, Ngozi Nwosu, Saeed Muhamed, and Saralynn Millington.
Speaking at an unveiling media parley, Atuma said he produced Imported Wives to address the marital challenges being faced by Nigerian families abroad. “If you look at the American and Canadian marriages, Africans have an 80 percent divorce rate. I wanted to solve a problem that is becoming an epidemic, because in the last five years, we’ve lost 10 Nigerians in the United States and three in Canada to this issue. So, this movie is long overdue.
“No matter how rich a woman is in Africa, once she’s married to a man, she must respect him. But when both of them move overseas, some of our women see it as freedom at last. Most African women don’t intend to buy into foreign culture. But there are some women who moved to Canada years back and whose marriages failed. They have formed a cartel whereby their job is to have more women like them, so there is character change which results in divorce.”
Lolu Desalu, Executive Director of Moses Babatope-led Nile Entertainment Group, said Imported Wives reflects the ‘Japa’ syndrome and how it impacts the relationships of Nigerians abroad.
“We often hear stories about couples moving to the US, Canada or London and facing difficulties. This film delves into those issues, exploring how moving abroad affects relationships and family dynamics,” she noted.
Shot in Nigeria and Canada, the film whose production took a year and eight months, will hit the cinemas before the year runs out.