Come Stay Go (a portrait of intimacy)
Come Stay Go (a portrait of intimacy) is an anthology of three short films centered on love, friendship and family. ‘Come’ is a story of siblings who have dinner out of the blue which leads to a night of spontaneity and revelations. ‘Stay’ follows a family after an embezzlement scandal by the matriarch, highlighting how the death of an ideal affects the couple and their child. ‘Go’ is a non-linear tale that captures the mundanities, conflicts, joys and sorrows of a couple over seven years.
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Mahmood TsalisuDirector
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Mahmood TsalisuWriter
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Christine BoatengProducer
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Mahmood TsalisuProducer
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Jeremy MbuProducer
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Motunrayo GiwaKey Cast"The sister"
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Diamond Lizzy OfuaniKey Cast"Folake"
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Nadine LoveKey Cast"Khalita"
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Ugochiturum MadubukoKey Cast"Bayo"
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Catherine Bashua-AlimiKey Cast"Amaar"
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Mahmood TsalisuKey Cast"Kylian"
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Project Type:Feature
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Genres:Drama, Thriller
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Runtime:1 hour 10 minutes 42 seconds
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Completion Date:July 6, 2023
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Production Budget:3,950 USD
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Country of Origin:Nigeria
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Country of Filming:Nigeria
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Language:English, French
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Shooting Format:Digital, RED. Black Magic
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Aspect Ratio:16:9, 4:3.
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Film Color:Black & White and Color
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First-time Filmmaker:Yes
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Student Project:No
Mahmood Tsalisu is a Nigerian writer & filmmaker based in Lagos. He believes in intimate stories and experiences that people share when they think no one is listening which is why he explores them in the characters he writes about.
Mahmood’s work engages the environment and situations that people with unusual and unique personalities as well as interesting relationship dynamics occupy, namely the relationship of carefreeness, and self-ownership as well as one involving family and partners. His debut film, an anthology 'Come Stay Go (a portrait of intimacy) is currently about to make a festival run.
The decision to make it an anthology paid off greatly as there was adequate time to prepare
for each film. Nevertheless I wished to explore as many characters as I could that would have
an emotional weight to an artwork with an obvious theme. To avoid presenting a propaganda,
setting characters in different environments with different backgrounds, motives, attitudes
and even story, allowed each shot , framing and composition have a life of its own.
Come – The aspect ration 4:3 was used for ‘Come’ alone. The majority of the story takes place
over a long night, with the façade and implied closeness of the characters a smaller aspect
ratio I believe draws attention to each turn, smile and smirk that is so familiar yet experienced
largely at arm’s length. Making space smaller and the characters larger was necessary for this
story, whenever a character is out of frame, the character becomes like space - needed,
desired, yet out of the closeness / intimacy of the moment.
Stay – It was important to give Folake’s daughter, Khalita, a world of her own outside her
parents. Differences in opinions and obvious truths wither and choices and expressions
become less adverse than earlier perceived as the generational gap and different paradigms
are existential, leaving room for intimacy.
Go – The use of black of white with splashes of other colors such as red, blue, purple and
green, besides being a stylistic choice, the story plays over seven years, which is the
lengthiest in the story world of the film. I found it would be intriguing to the audience, which is
needed especially because this story is narratively non-linear. Furthermore, it engages the
curiosities of the audience in regards to their memory, how some details vanish and some
remain even in the closest relationships.