Awardwinning film maker, Dickson Iroegbu in this interview with Dr Uzor Ngoladi,speaks on the release of The Good Husband, his latest movie effort and the role the government can play in stabilizing the creative industry post COVID-19.Excerpts:
What is goodabout the husband?
The truth isthat without a good husband, there will not be a good family, society orcountry. Family starts from a man making a move to choose his companion. Thatcompanion must follow his vision and dream. It’s like working on set as adirector. Actors and crew members pursue whatever is vision the director’svision. It’s the same thing with a good husband. A husband who understands hisrole is a good husband. A husband who does not understand his role in thefamily is a bad husband. For there to be a good husband, it takes two to tango.The wife must create an atmosphere that enables the man to love and appreciateher. The relationship between a man and a woman is the same between Christ andthe church. If there is no conducive atmosphere for Christ to come and blessthe church, there won’t be a relationship. The same applies to husband andwife. When a wife is submissive and understands that the crown over her head isher husband, the man becomes the King and she, the Queen. The Good Husbandmovie was made to address all the issues between a man and a woman. There is nocouple in the world that will not see themselves in this film. This movieaddresses the issue of marriage. Marriage has no tribe or religion or race.Marriage is the only institution that God himself established. Lesser value isplaced on that institution right now. That is why we decided to make this filmat this time that domestic violence and divorce is so high. The Good Husbandaddresses those issues as it affects husband and wife. There is a good husbandout there but its his wife that determines how good he will be.
Are youinsinuating that it is a wife that makes a home?
Yes, it is awoman that owns the home. It’s a woman that defines a home. Before a womanmoves into a man’s house, its just a house. But it becomes a home when she stepsin. The man finds peace and confidence. The woman becomes his supporter inchief. A wife plays an important role in making her man, a good husband. That iswhat this film highlights. The position of a man in the family must be wellrecognized. This is not talking about a man’s world, it is to state the fact asit is. For marriage to work, the head of the family must be identified. And thathead can never be the wife no matter what the situation is. Whether you are theperson feeding the man or paying the bills or the man meeting hisresponsibility, it does not matter. What is important is that the man is establishedas the head of the home. God made marriage and God gave he responsibility ofheadship to the man. However, there are irresponsible men out there.
So, there arebad husbands?
There are badhusbands. That a marriage crumbles most of the time is from the perspective ofthe man. God instructed man to leave his father and mother and cleave to hiswife. If a man does not give up on the woman he chose as a wife, the marriagewill never break up. If a marriage crumbles, hold the man responsible because itis his responsibility to keep the marriage while it is the woman’sresponsibility to make the house a home. For any marriage to fail, check theman, the man gave up. In this movie, we are calling on husbands to understandtheir responsibility. The man is the priest over his home. He bears the vision.If he gives up on the vision, the marriage crashes. That’s what we call ‘irreconcilabledifference’. This film speaks to everybody including the pastors and clergy. Mostpastors are facing challenges at home. The film cuts across social status, tribeand religion. It is a broad approach to discuss marriage. Again, I have had myfair share of broken home and I know what it feels like. There is no man thatwill deliberately wreck his home. Nothing kills a man’s drive like having abroken home. I have experienced it. Friends, family, colleagues, church willabandon you when your home crashes. It is a terrible situation. I ran to Godand the idea for this movie was revealed to me. This is the best inspiration I haveever had when it comes to film making business. I was directly inspired to makethis film.
Who are theactors that featured in this film?
We have SamDede, Monalisa Chinda, Francis Duru, Paul Sambo, Victor Deka, Link Edochie, somany great actors. It’s going to be in the cinemas from 13th of November2020. We shot for the cinema market because it is an important theme. Themarriage institution is under serious attack. Most troubled marriages will finda reason to give their marriage a second chance after watching this film. I amexpecting both single and married audience to come see The Good Husband in thecinemas on the 13th of November.
How are youcoping with the marketing and distribution?
That is one areathat we need government intervention especially because coronavirus affectedour industry terribly. The cinemas were shut down but they are just reopeningnow. We don’t know what to expect. We need government to deliberately and consciouslybail out the industry.
In what way?
The records ofthe cinemas should be crosschecked to identify those movies that was supposedto be released before the COVID-19 lockdown. These are heavily funded projectsthat was tied down due to the pandemic. Film makers lost their investments. Forinstance, I am owing a lot of people who invested in this movie. Personally, I lookforward to palliatives from the government. Nollywood is well structured toreceive intervention from the federal government. It is easy to identify thosefilm makers who were affected by the lockdown. The Good Husband was supposed tobe released in March after investing so much resources. Now, I am starting afreshto promote the movie. I am looking for about 20 million naira for publicity. Weneed help in Nollywood. The government must realize how important the creativesector is to our economy. Apart from job creation, Nollywood is a veritabletool for government propaganda. There should be synergy between the governmentand the movie industry. Nollywood is good for the image laundering of thecountry. Bailing out Nollywood will positively project the image of Nigeria.
Any government that is serious, must embrace the creative industry.