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Onyeka Nwelue on copious similarities between his book and ‘The Mirror Boy’ movie
Nigerian film maker, Obi Emelonye has come under public scrutiny for his award-winning film, ‘The Mirror Boy’ which contains several striking similarities with the 2009 bestseller, ‘The Abyssinian Boy’ written by Onyeka Nwelue. Was it sheer coincidence or a matter of plagiarism as Emelonye admitted to Onyeka in an encounter that he had come across […]
Nigerian film maker, Obi Emelonye has come under public scrutiny for his award-winning film, ‘The Mirror Boy’ which contains several striking similarities with the 2009 bestseller, ‘The Abyssinian Boy’ written by Onyeka Nwelue. Was it sheer coincidence or a matter of plagiarism as Emelonye admitted to Onyeka in an encounter that he had come across Onyeka’s book but didn’t read it?
‘The Abyssinian Boy’ is the simple story of a 9 year-old David, who, on his trip from India to Nigeria with his parents, travels in dreams with an albino dwarf, Nfanfa who keeps appearing only to him. ‘The Mirror Boy’ tells the story of Tijan, a London born teenage African boy who is taken by his mother, Teema to visit Gambia for the first time. At a crowded street market called Serekunda, he suddenly becomes separated from his mother and soon finds himself lost in the African wilderness. Bewildered and confused, he must find his way back. But to that, he must confront his deepest fears and embark on a journey of self-discovery, led by the enigmatic Mirror Boy; where the lines between reality and fantasy, physical and spiritual become forever blurred.
Onyeka Nwelue comments: “At the end of last year, I was having a meeting with comedian, Okey Bakassi in Lagos and he came across the synopsis of my book and said, ‘Ah, my friend’s film is just like this.’ He asked me to contact his friend and I did. Obi made me understand that he’s heard of my book, but that he hasn’t read the book. And that he was in India then for his brother’s surgery and so he would get back to me later when he was settled.”
He continues: “Obi was at AMAA in Bayelsa too and then during the premiere of Mirror Boy in Lagos. I saw the film and I hurriedly walked out of the hall when I realized I could tell what would happen in the next scene. It was revealing to me that the heart of the story was taken off from my book. Yes, the similarities don’t end there. Osita Iheme is completely modeled on Nfanfa, the dwarf in my book and they are supposed to be mischievous. I am not saying I am the harbinger of the most creative ideas about spirituality and mysticism, I actually built that story.”
The young writer and growing Nigerian youth ambassador, said he expects people to read the book, see the movie and find the truth for themselves. Onyeka believes that the incident doesn’t represent a lack of creativity in the Nigerian movie industry but a simple case cleverly abusing the lack of protection for intellectual property across Africa.
He adds, “Obi Emelonye hasn’t denied that knowledge of my book, but rather he has denied reading it; which I think is very interesting. There are so many stories with children and dwarfs. There are many stories like that. But my fear is that Danish filmmaker, Lasse Lau has a script that he’s going to shoot and it is the same way the adaptation has taken shape. The fear is that when people see ‘The Abyssinian Boy’ film, they would totally assume it is a remake of ‘ The Mirror Boy’.”
Onyeka Nwelue was born in Nigeria and left for India when he was 18, where he wrote his first novel in 3 months. Three months after the release of the book by DADA Books, Lagos, Danish filmmaker, Lasse Lau indicated interest to buy the film rights, to be produced by KRAN Film, Belgium. The Abyssinian Boy won the TM ALUKO Prize for First Book of Fiction, IBRAHIM TAHIR Prize for Fiction at the 2009 Abuja Writers’ Forum Literary Festival, nominated for the Creative Artist of the Year at the Future Awards 2010 and is being studied at universities and colleges across Nigeria, India and Hong Kong.
Emelonye, has been described as one of the new generation of Nigerian film directors taking the magic of Nollywood to the wider world. He was at the final stages of being enrolled as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales when he abandoned legal practice to pursue his first love: film. Emelonye’s debut, The Mirror Boy has grossed over N15million at Nigerian cinemas and is being published as a novel.
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