Code of Silence (2015 film)

Code of Silence is a 2015 Nigerian drama film directed by Emem Isong and written by Bola Aduwo. The film was produced by the Royal Arts Academy in collaboration with Nollywood Workshop. It stars Makida Moka in the lead role of Adanma, Patience Ozokwor, Ini Edo and Omoni Oboli. It is notable for its powerful stance against rape in Nigeria and addresses issues facing rape victims in the country.

Code of Silence
Directed byEmem Isong
Written byBola Aduwo
StarringMakida Moka, Patience Ozokwor, Ini Edo and Omoni Oboli
Release date
  • August 8, 2015 (2015-08-08) (Lagos)
CountryNigeria
LanguageEnglish

Plot

Adanma, a young, intelligent medical student with promising career prospects, is gang-raped by a local politician and his aide on her way home from college. She confesses what happened to her family, but given their low position in society, are afraid to alert the authorities.[1] The rape damages Adanma psychologically and emotionally, and the traumatic experience begins to affect her entire life.[2]

Cast

Production

Code of Silence was produced by the Royal Arts Academy in collaboration with Nollywood Workshop. The second feature picture to be filmed by Emem Isong, she said of her reasoning to shoot the picture: "Sometimes, I do advocacy movies and code of silence is one of such movies. I decided to do a movie on rape to urge people to come out and say ‘NO’ to rape. Let's break the code of silence. We want to break the assumption that the victim is at fault. The story actually found me because my friend brought the story to me and when I read it, I realised that I had a good one. It's a 20 million budget movie. I decided to work with these cast because I've worked with most of them and I felt they would interprete [sic] the roles properly."[2]

Actress and model Makida Moka found shooting the picture to be an "intense" experience, which traumatised her to the point that she was often in tears after scenes were cut.[3]

Reception

The film premiered on August 8, 2015 at Silverbird Galleria, Victoria Island, Lagos, in an event which was well-attended by the stars of the Nollywood industry.[2] The film received acclaim from critics. Toni Kan, writing for Nigeria Entertainment Today remarked that the film "travels considerable distance to encourage the reversal of tendencies like stigma which restrains victims and their families from speaking up when rape occurs", and effectively "speaks to everyone: it addresses the issue of what society loses when women are subjected to forced sex, when we all keep quiet about it and why men should have more respect for themselves by not taking the low bend into being rapists". Despite the trauma of the rape, Kan notes that the film is interspersed with moments of comic relief.[4]

References
  1. "Movie starring Desmond Elliot, Ini Edo, Patience Ozokwor to hit cinemas in August". Pulse. 27 August 2015. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  2. "Emem Isong makes case for rape victims in 'Code of Silence'". Vanguard. 15 August 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  3. "Being short has worked for me – Makida Moka". Punch. 14 February 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  4. Kan, Toni (17 August 2015). "'Code of Silence' tackles rape…with doses of humour – By Toni Kan". Nigeria Entertainment Today. Archived from the original on 18 August 2015. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
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