Filed under: Cinema, Features, Film, Nollywood
Dr. Bello premiers at the Kennedy Center
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Nigeria (Nollywood) has been producing films at a rate of 200 per month, placing them ahead of the U.S. (Hollywood) and behind the Indian film industry (Bollywood). It was therefore is inevitable that their paths would collide.
Enter the movie ‘Doctor Bello‘ which will be premiering on September 27th at the Kennedy Center. The film, with an inspiring story line, brings Hollywood and Nollywood together.
This stellar cast features Isaiah Washington, Vivica A. Fox, Jimmy Jean Louis, Genevieve Nnaji, Stephanie Okereke and may others from both film industries.
The film is about a brilliant cancer specialist, Dr. Michael Durant, who is emotionally troubled, wrestling with the traumatic loss of his 10-year-old daughter from cancer. Immersing himself in his work in the hospital, away from his wife who blames him for their child’s death, he forms an unlikely bond with a sick, loving, but rambunctious seven year old boy, Sam, the son of a rich Jewish couple who are major contributors to the Hospital’s Cancer Research Fund.
Unfortunately, Sam’s health deteriorates drastically, and soon, he slips into a coma, with only a few days to live. Dr. Durant becomes desperate, willing to risk anything to save the child’s life. A surreptitious Nigerian nurse convinces him to seek the help of Dr. Bello, an uncertified Nigerian doctor, known in the Brooklyn-African underground as a miracle worker. Dr. Bello, an introvert with a controversial past, secretly visits the child at night and administers a strange African potion, replete with incantations and by the next morning, miraculously, the child begins to recover, the cancer speeding into remission.
The Hospital Medical Board immediately orders an investigation and soon the secret is revealed and Dr. Durant is suspended. Dr. Bello is arrested and charged with medical malpractice. Dr. Durant soon falls into depression after his wife leaves him. Meanwhile, Dr. Bello has fallen critically ill in jail and can only be saved by the ingestion of the same potion that can only be found in the mysterious “Garden of Life,” nestled on the peak of Nigeria’s sky mountains.
The movie is scheduled to be released in early 2013 and will premiere in several major cities worldwide, including Washington D.C., London, Johannesburg and Lagos.
The Director, Tony Abulu, is the President and CEO of Black Ivory Communications, a multi-faceted media firm with 30 years’ experience in film production, entertainment, publishing, international marketing and African tourism development. Abulu is also the President of Filmmakers Association of Nigeria, USA (FAN, USA).
To learn more about the movie, visit the official website or follow them on Twitter.
