Love Castle

Love Castle is a story of African culture interwoven with disability. According to United Nations, approximately 80 million Africans are living with disability. Majority of the disabled in African countries don’t have the opportunity to be educated and to work for a living. The system in most African countries don’t have the needed accommodation for the disabled to function appropriately in the society. Most families are not financially capable to support their disabled member.

The people living with disability are often stigmatized and marginalized resulting to their isolation. Many mothers of children with disability are judged by family members who assumed such mother must have committed an offense to have a child with disability. Often times, the entire family of a disabled person stands being stigmatized. Many disabled people took to begging on the street as means of survival. The children with disability have no promise of a future as it is in most African countries. These inspired me to direct Love Castle initially.

After reading the story, I knew we need this kind of story in African. It is relatable. I was inspired to make it a topnotch production. I want the story to sensitize the creation of a society that will be accommodating to Africans with disability. I want Africans to know that there is ability in disability and that some children with disability can be who they want to be if given the needed support. I want to stop the stigmatization.

Culture, being an integral part of African socialization, is well captured in the story. I love the way the story transitioned from Western to Eastern Nigeria. The story took the audience through a long held African belief and tradition of silence surrounding taboos. The suspense wowed me. I wanted the audience to feel what I felt, so I gave it my best. I scrutinized casting and ensured we got the right cast for the right role. I checked out all locations, equipment, costumes, set, crew members, and basically left no stone unturned. The set designer was one of the best I have worked with in recent times.

I strived to keep the emotion as well as humor for maximum engagement. I invented methods to create the feelings I wanted the audience to have. I created Regent Adetutu’s character arc. The character transformed from joy to sorrow, to anger, and to sympathy. I worked directly with postproduction. I worked with sound and music to achieve my intended result. I am glad about the result of my hard work, Love Castle emerged even better than I wanted it to be.