The Agbajowo Collective Talk Toronto Player ‘The Legend of the Vagabond Queen of Lagos,’ Drop Trailer (EXCLUSIVE)
variety.comHolly Jones Burgeoning Nigerian filmmaking force The Agbajowo Collective put an urgent spin on the brutality of forced evictions with their debut feature, “The Legend of the Vagabond Queen of Lagos,” screening in Toronto as part of its Centrepiece program touting “compelling stories, global perspectives.” Written and directed by the diverse seven-member team of budding and established talents, the narrative follows single mother Jawu (Temi Ami-Williams) as she goes head-to-head with the hired guns doling out a brute force-fate to her waterside village, the story based on the 2017 destruction of informal settlements in the fishing community of Otodo Gbame.
In a first-look trailer shared exclusively with Variety, the village is introduced through a sweeping aerial shot, framing its sutured structures nestled among waterways, several with bright teal and clay-colored tin roofs that shine effortlessly through thick gray skies.
An announcement relaying the state’s plan to demolish the village plays in lock-step as the teaser cuts to a hoard of money, neatly wrapped hundred dollar bills stacked high.
Meanwhile, Jawu and her son count their modest earnings by the light of an oil lamp, dedicating each pile to their dreams and necessities – his schooling, her market budget and a new house.
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