"Confusion Na Wa," Kenneth Gyang's award-winning Nigerian dark comedy film, begins and ends with the same line: "Things don’t happen for a reason — they just happen."
This uncertain message propels the film's discussion of the everyday issues and conflicts that surround modern Nigeria.
The film screened on Tuesday in the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation Auditorium in Gaylord Hall, and director Kenneth Gyang held a question-and-answer session the next day in Hester Hall.
The screening and discussion was a way to bring other cultures and political systems alive for students, in a way that reading about it in the classroom wouldn't do, said Jessica Pearson-Patel, International and Area Studies professor.
"Confusion Na Wa" challenges traditional Nollywood (Nigerian Cinema) film and questions ideals of Nigerian society, Gyang said. Typical Nollywood movies focus on conveying an important message, and rarely end with ambiguity.
However, this does not reflect reality in Nigeria, Gyang said.
“When we were making the film, we just said, we’re going to talk about reality,” he said. “You always have to show people the reality about where you’re coming from. A lot of films in Nigeria make everything look like MTV but that is not the reality of most of the population."
WATCH: A trailer for "Confusion Na Wa."
"Confusion Na Wa" revolves around the lives of strangers whose lives become intertwined in the course of a day due to a stolen phone. By the film's end, no conflicts have been resolved and no wrongdoers have been brought to justice.
Instead of a resolution, "Confusion" ends with a tragic, inexplicable murder, which leads the audience to the film’s main premise: Life isn’t fair.
“It’s about the unfairness of life and the whole issue of morality,” Gyang said. “What is morally right and what is morally wrong? We are trying to look at these two issues.”
"Confusion Na Wa" deals with issues such as rape, Nigerian society’s condemnation of homosexuality, the negative influence western civilization has on Nigerian culture, a corrupt police force and Nigeria's overall violence.
Gyang said he experienced several of the conflicts in "Confusion" in his own life, including police harassment.
“I was actually beaten by a police [officer] before because we were having arguments about something,” he said. “I had my camera and that worried them that I would take it into a police station, and so they started beating me.”
Although Gyang said "Confusion" was aimed at Nigerian audiences first, it also deals with issues that can be applied to the rest of the world, including OU students.
“I think that especially with the issue of sexual violence, this is a big problem not just in Africa,” Pearson-Patel said.
However, "Confusion" isn’t all dark. Gyang’s strategic use of humor somehow keeps the audience laughing throughout the film with references to familiar movies like "The Lion King." In Nigeria, people will stay away from serious films because Nigerians like to be happy, Gyang said.
"Confusion" won Best Film at the 2013 African Movie Academy Awards, despite being produced on a tight budget over the course of 16 days.
“There are things that I could have done better with proper funding, but to be honest, it was okay for us to always work on that tight budget because it tends to bring out the creativity,” Gyang said.
The film also won Best Nigerian Film at the 2013 Africa Movie Academy Awards, and was nominated for Best Director and Best Supporting Actor, according to the production company Cinema Kpatakpata's website.
"Confusion" was Gyang's first feature film, which he directed when he was 29.
Gyang said the success of "Confusion" gave him the opportunity to move forward confidently with films. He is now in the process of working on his next film, "This is Lagos," a drama about a man turning to crime to fuel his musical ambition, as well as another science-fiction film, he said.
