By Dipo Olowookere
Identity crisis is one thing most people do not wish to experience because it could rob someone of many things and in some cases, it has been a blessing.
For a South African-based Nigerian actor, Sule Stanley, the headache of people mistaking him for a veteran actor, Nkem Owoh, otherwise known as Osuofia, is what is he not ready for and to minimise this, he had to settle for the name Ukwa South.
Osuofia, a well-known comic actor in the Nigerian movie industry fondly called Nollywood, is also called Ukwa.
“[The] Ukwa brand didn’t start today,” the South African-based actor told Brandafriq in an interview, explaining that, “The South was added to it because of my stay in South Africa.”
According to the role-interpreter, who described himself as a natural “lively person,” “when people talk about Ukwa sometimes, most mistake me for the great Osuofia. So, when you say Ukwa South, it’s easier to acknowledge.”
Speaking on the quality of movies shot in Nigeria, Ukwa South, who has spent over 15 years in the former apartheid country, simply said, “[The] picture quality [is] always way different from what we have back home truth be told. What you can shoot with a Red Camera or Black magic can easily be used by Canon here (South Africa) or 7D.”
But does he have any intention to change things? Yes, according to him, “I am trying to build the industry from here. So, whenever I come home, doing production won’t be hard and I am planning on opening a film school here in the nearest future.”
You may want to ask why he is not starting his charity from home? But the filmmaker, who hails from Edo State, has an answer for you as he explained the reason is because “I [have] established myself here. I started from here. Many Nigerians come here to learn cinematography and being a contact person for our people back home wouldn’t be a bad idea [to establish one in Nigeria].”
Ukwa South, who intends to be one of the prominent faces on the screens of movie-lovers in Africa in the nearest future, stated that at the moment, “I am doing my second production in six months.”
He disclosed that the film features stars like Walter Anga, Georgina Ibeh, Larry Goldsweat, Christopher Bassey, amongst others.
According to him, the Nigerian part of the flick has already been shot, while the overseas scenes, which “I am playing a significant character,” are being shot in South Africa.
