Director, Writer: Abbesi Akhamie
Cast: Toyin Oshinaike, Rita Edward, Yemi Adebiyi
Genre: Drama, Tragedy
Year: 2017
Duration: 16 minutes
Written and directed by Abbesi Akhamie (Samedi Cinema), this short film expertly wraps up the intense grief that follows the lengthy absence of a child. Sporting a splendid cast (by Kemi Lala Akindoju) and several locations in Auchi, Edo State, Still Waters Run Deep chronicles a dark period in the life of a small family.
The parents, especially the mother (Rita Edward), were worried sick, till the father (Toyin Oshinaike) took it on himself to go in search of the boy. The journey led to a petrol station, a police station, local gatherings, and a marketplace where he finally finds his son’s T-shirt on someone else.
Toyin Oshinaike’s portrayal of a father in distress was second to none and nothing short of convincing. The beads of perspiration, his frantic expressions, and the pitiable ordeal at a decrypt police station clearly revealed the darkness that had engulfed him. His wife however, maintained an unusually quiet composure untypical of the average Nigerian mother in the face of such a tragedy.
The film brings to the fore-front the dangers surrounding the deplorable consequences of keeping bad company, as the boy had been initially arrested for indiscriminate smoking. The soundtrack (a fusion of Christian hymns and incredibly moving acoustics) was perhaps the best thing that happened to the screenplay.
The characters and costumes were impressively well matched, and without any deviation, the camera angles (by Dominica Eriksen) and picture quality told as good a visual story as the writer herself. Produced by Melissa Adeyemo, the film preaches the relevance of fortitude (and leaving out emotions) in the aftermath of an incalculable loss.
Still Waters Run Deep is rated 8/10.
