Minister
2016
Video, interview
After the assasination of her father, a political activist, Kemi leaves her home country Nigeria. On her arrival in Italy she finds a job in a bakery and builds a new life as a single mother. Developing an interest in fashion, Kemi eventually joins the fashion company Nero. In the meantime her brother Banky has also made his way to Italy. When the fashion company has financial difficulties, Kemi manages to save it from bankruptcy by introducing Adire, an indigo blue fabric from West Africa. Minister is a stirring drama, set in a country where immigration is still perceived as a threat. The moment when Kemi becomes appointed as Minister of Migration as a result of her commitment to labour rights, marks the film’s turning point. Kemi’s joy is clouded by conflicts with her daughter, her brother and racist hostilities within the party. Meanwhile, there is a fierce power struggle for the fashion company, which puts the lives of mother and daughter in danger.
Fide Dayo
Fide Dayo, who lives in Rome, is a Nigerian filmmaker born into the Ekundayo family in Lagos, Nigeria. After his studies in architecture at the University of Florence he switched to film making. He realized a series of short films: the documentaries Identity on the Move to Integrate Different Worlds (2009) and Who are the Yoruba’s (2008), That Day (2006), Fuga (2004), Diaspora (2002), and The front line (2001). He had a breakthrough with his first feature film Ben Kross (2011), in which he also played the role of an Nigerian immigrant worker in Italy. Ben Kross was nominated as best film by an African film director living abroad at the African Movie Academy Award (AMAA) in 2012.