A high-stakes thriller executive produced by the Afrobeats star Burna boy titled “3 Cold Dishes” – about three African women exacting cold revenge on the men who sexually exploited them – wants to take pan-African cinema to the next level.
Set across Nigeria, Benin and Ivory Coast, “3 Cold Dishes” is directed by Nigerian filmmaker Asurf Oluseyi (“Hakkunde”), who learned his craft by watching YouTube and also makes music videos, including several for Burna Boy, who has two tracks in the film.
“My aspiration is for ‘African cinema’ to not just be a term for collective African films, but to actually become a (global) genre just like we have Afrobeat,” says Oluseyi Amount.
“As Africans, we have shared stories; we have shared reality,” adds the director. “I hope we can get to a point where we have a movie that’s not just seen as a Nigerian movie, or as a North African or South African movie, but as an African movie. That’s been my dream. I know it’s very tough, but somebody has to start.”
Driven by Burna Boy’s global influence and Oluseyi’s assured direction, the thriller – about three women named Esosa, Fatouma and Giselle who are sold as teenagers into the sex trade and reunite across West Africa 13 years later to plot their revenge – opened on October 3 at a packed UK premiere at London’s Novela ahead of its UK premiere.
Meanwhile, “3 Cold Dishes” is set to open the Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) in Lagos, Nigeria, on November 2, followed by a theatrical release in approximately 26 African countries. Theater tours in France, the USA and Canada are also planned.
“We went to London first and we were very strategic with London,” says Oluseyi. “First, it’s home to the Burna. And second, it’s home to a huge percentage of the Nigerian diaspora.”
As Oluseyi explains, the idea behind the “3 Cold Dishes” launch strategy is: “If we launch the premiere in Nigeria, it might be noticed that this is a Nigerian film. But if we go to London, we say, ‘It’s a Pan-African.’
“3 Cold Dishes” is produced by Francis Nebots Ifind, Alma Prods., Asurf Films and Martian Network, and co-produced by Pape Boyes Black Mic Mac. Burna Boy is executive producing through Spaceship Films, the company he co-founded with Bose Ogulu.
“We all know Afrobeat is taking over the world,” Nebot pointed out, before noting that Burna Boy ran a “3 Cold Dishes” trailer on giant screens earlier this year in front of 80,000 people at the end of his concert at Paris’ Stade de France.
Talks are now underway to premiere the film in LA, Atlanta and Houston in the second half of November “because Burna Boy is doing a US tour around this release window,” says Oluseyi. He added that its Canadian release is confirmed for December 16 to coincide with Burna Boy’s Canadian tour.
Besides having the Burna Boy boost, another key aspect to consider “3 Cold Dishes” as a breakout picture is that it’s in English and French (with subtitles) or alternatively in a full French dub version, “which is quite rare” for an African film, notes Nebot, who also points out that the thriller is shot in CinemaScope.
Tellingly, Oluseyi says what is crucial is that “3 Cold Dishes” looks at the sex-trafficking trade within the African continent, not outside. “We’ve had titles from Africa that have explored trafficking,” he says. “But they are always from Africa to Europe.” But “the real information is that 90% of these victims are trafficked from one African country to another,” he says.
Overall, what separates “3 Cold Dishes” from most films that try to reach Western audiences from Africa is that it is meant to be a mainstream film. “It was important that we make a film that people can see and that people can pay for, and that we can make money back,” he says.
Incidentally, the budget for “3 Cold Dishes” was roughly $1 million, which the director and producers say is a big budget for an African film.
Worldwide sales for “3 Cold Dishes” are handled by Pape Boye, while CAA represents the film for North America.
