Released globally as an acquired Netflix Original on 22 September, Nigerian film The Black Book has taken the streaming world by storm.

Netflix says the action-thriller, starring Nollywood icon Richard Mofe-Damijo as Paul Edima, an avenging ex-security operative on the hunt for the murderers of his only child, ranked fourth globally amongst the platform’s English-language titles after the first weekend of its release.

The Editi Effiong-directed film also pulled in at least 5.6 million views in the first two days, ranking in the top ten in at least 38 countries, with audiences in South America and Europe also tuning in.

“The thing that drove me was trying to create a spectacle that was very authentic to who we are as Nigerians,” Effiong tells The Africa Report about the three-and-a-half-year journey that led to The Black Book.

A multi-hyphenate with a background in tech and advertising, Effiong had led his digital marketing company, Anakle, to venture into commercial filmmaking by producing the 2018 romance drama Up North.

Attempts to scratch his creative itch saw him garner executive producer credits on films Like The Set Up and Day of Destiny before striking out to direct his first short film in 2020 – Fishbone, about the counterfeit drug trade.

‘Justice tends to come to the privileged’

The Black Book, which Effiong co-wrote with Bunmi Ajakaiye, is his feature length directorial debut. He explained how his professional past informed the present: “It’s funny, the experience that prepared me the most for directing films is my software programming.

When you are building a product, you have got to be able to carry the entire product in your head.

You know where every line of code, every image lands. Same thing with directing, you have to carry a story in your head, every plot twist, every change in dialogue and how it impacts the story three pages down the line.”

Effiong had been mulling the idea for The Black Book for some time before the unpalatable events of 2020 led Nigerians to the streets to protest en masse against police brutality, especially towards young people.

The director’s initial query was centred around the outcomes of police officers killing the child of an influential citizen. This background informed the story of the character Paul Edima, a man who has both the resources and the resourcefulness to go to the ends of the earth in search of justice.

 “In Nigeria,” says Effiong, “justice tends to come only to people who are privileged. People who have no money to hire lawyers are just discarded.”

The resulting #EndSARS protest movement that was aborted by the government-sanctioned massacre of innocent citizens gave Effiong the impetus to continue developing the story.

While reporting as a private citizen from the public hearings at the fact-finding panel set up by the Lagos state government, Effiong says he saw firsthand how lack of money was eventually becoming a hindrance for people seeking redress within the system.

Innovative creative partnership

At this time, pre-production on The Black Book had ramped up and on one occasion, Effiong would fly straight from the hearings in Lagos to Kaduna state in the northern part of the country to meet with military top brass about collaborating on the production.

He recalls, “One of those days at 81 Division, Kaduna, a soldier recognised me from the panel and I thought I was [going to be] sleeping in the guard room that night.”

But Effiong says the officers he met with were impressed by his work and that both the army and police leadership came on board to provide logistics and technical support to The Black Book. “I don’t think my views were on the other side from the army’s.

I think I provided a balanced view of the things I saw,” says Effiong of the way he reported on the panel.

Richard Mofe-Damijo signed on to play grieving father Paul Edima after a single lunch date with Effiong facilitated by his daughter, who was a friend of Effiong’s.

 “I connected with him because I could see his audacity, and that isn’t something you need eternity to spot,” Mofe-Damijo tells The Africa Report.

“He wasn’t even sure that I was willing to commit when he mentioned that I would be expected to lose weight for the role. He said all the right things and challenged me. I felt I needed to prove that I was all the things he thinks I am, plus extra,” the actor adds.

Mofe-Damijo didn’t just sign on as a producer on The Black Book, he and Effiong entered a creative partnership that saw Effiong’s Anakle Films taking control of Mofe-Damijo’s production company, with the Nollywood superstar and former Delta state commissioner staying on as chairman of the board.

Richard Mofe-Damijo signed on to play grieving father Paul Edima after a single lunch date with Effiong facilitated by his daughter, who was a friend of Effiong’s. “I connected with him because I could see his audacity, and that isn’t something you need eternity to spot,” Mofe-Damijo tells The Africa Report.

“He wasn’t even sure that I was willing to commit when he mentioned that I would be expected to lose weight for the role. He said all the right things and challenged me. I felt I needed to prove that I was all the things he thinks I am, plus extra,” the actor adds.

Mofe-Damijo didn’t just sign on as a producer on The Black Book, he and Effiong entered a creative partnership that saw Effiong’s Anakle Films taking control of Mofe-Damijo’s production company, with the Nollywood superstar and former Delta state commissioner staying on as chairman of the board.

To fund The Black Book’s considerable budget – Effiong estimates it was at least $1m – they cobbled together a team of investors from the tech and corporate worlds. And in an unusual move for a Nigerian film, they made this information public.

“I don’t know why people hide budgets, filmmaking is a business now and should be open. You want a model that an investor can look [at] and make their decisions based on whatever projections.

My desire is for a lot more transparency as we have tried to do in this case. And I am hoping our investors are happy with what we have done,” says Mofe-Damijo.

Nigerian stories have global appeal

Impressed by the early data from The Black Book’s streaming performance, founding partner at Shock NG Damilare Akintunde tells The Africa Report, “We have data that emphasises that a Nigerian film can indeed be a global product. One can now tell an investor anywhere in the world that this Nigerian film, made with Nigerian talent can do well globally. It validates that the Nigerian story is commercial and can travel.”

Filming The Black Book was an ambitious undertaking, and its complicated set pieces presented logistical challenges that saw the production move from Lagos to Kaduna and back. Still, Effiong wouldn’t have it any other way.

“The parts of the film we shot in Kaduna could not have been shot in Lagos, there is no way we could have pulled that off. It looks different because Kaduna looks different, feels different with a different energy,” he says.

This required heroic efforts, particularly from the crew: amongst them, heavyweights like Yinka Edward as director of photography and the late production designer, Pat Nebo, who passed away days before The Black Book’s release.

Effiong struggles to hold back tears when talking about him. “Pat Nebo was amazing. The Black Book [would not have been] not possible without him, and this industry is going to miss his genius and artistry.”

Optimising for authenticity and simplicity meant that even though Effiong’s style is more in kinship with Hollywood actioners, he had to be more modest in realising his vision.

“What we were going for is building stuff that was authentic to Nigeria. Instead of trying for big Hollywood stunts, we had fight scenes with fists in a way that is authentic to us. The car chase scene was set within a village with plenty dust in the air, that kind of stuff.”

With The Black Book, Effiong has created a nihilistic world peopled with characters who have all done deeply troubling things at some point in their lives. 

While he would like the film to reflect society, he also wants to deliver a reminder that even in the most hopeless of situations, there is always a choice to be made.

“We need to remind ourselves that there is a way out and truth is what really matters. Silence is the enemy of progress and growth,” he says.

       The African Report