Norman Busigu is a British-Ugandan, award nominated Filmmaker, Media Broadcaster and published fashion Model.
In essence, this groundbreaking documentary chronicles Norman’s journey from London (UK) to Lagos (Nigeria) in July 2023, and critically examines the role of the youth of Nigeria – and more widely, in the diaspora – in shaping Nigeria’s future.
The documentary has already received notable support and coverage from leading media hubs in Africa, notably Channels TV (Africa’s most awarded television station), Pulse (Nigeria) Starr103.5 FM (Ghana), GhOne TV (Ghana) and Metro TV (Ghana).
The documentary was produced by Nigeria-based production company, The Milade Films, with Post Production headed by DJ Reckyy/Lamarr Campbell (founder of Playback).
The documentary also has an official partnership with Jendaya (a luxury E-commerce Platform for the global consumer), and boasts an original soundtrack supplied by British-Nigerian Artist, Kvngs.
Despite the wide array of issues Nigeria faces at present, Norman truly believes that Nigeria possesses the elements required to become a global superpower, with the youth being the key to unlocking Nigeria’s full potential.
Through a series of interviews, thematic analysis and visiting key hotspots in Lagos, this documentary explores what direction Nigerians feel and believe their country is going in, the role the youth can play in its future, and, if it can live up to its potential of becoming a global superpower.
These themes are thoroughly analysed from two dimensions: first, Nigeria’s socio-political/socio-economic developments, and secondly, the arts – namely, music, and visual arts.
The world premiere screening event will take place on Saturday 28 October 2023, at the Lexi Cinema, based in North-West London. The event will also include various include keynote speeches, an interactive question and answer session, and much more…
Norman offers an explanation as to why he specifically chose this venue and timing for the event: The Lexi is London’s only social enterprise cinema, which is volunteer-run; it places strong focus not only with its local community, but also to a charity project in South Africa.
The Lexi has also received numerous awards, including the Civic Trust Award in 2023. This community focus, charitable spirit and affinity to Africa, for Norman, are the key reasons why he has consciously chosen to hold his world premiere screening here.
Norman is also scheduled to have a screening event at Queen Mary University London (of which he is a proud alumni), in collaboration with their Afro-Caribbean Society in October 2023.
Norman is holding these screening events in October, as this is Black History Month in the UK – making it a fitting time to showcase this film which, fundamentally, explores the past, present and future of Nigeria, and, more widely, Africa.
With his sophomore film, Norman hopes to build on the successes of his first documentary “Ghana: Africa’s Exciting Entry Point?”, which critically examines the phenomenal rise of tourism in Ghana, and contributing factors causing this prominent trend.
The documentary went on to achieve many incredible feats including: being shortlisted as a Semi-Finalist at the Paris International Short Festival (April 2023), screening at Cambridge University, screening twice at the world renown private members club Soho House (with high profile attendees including members of the Ghanaian High Commission and Deborah Ababio, the Global Entertainment Director for Vogue), airing on British television, and making headline features/news across leading Ghanaian publications.
Norman aims for his second documentary to have a bigger reach globally, with screening events and press coverage to truly span across Europe, America and Africa.
As wider context into Norman’s extensive portfolio career in the creative industries, Norman was previously the first International News Correspondent for the TV network, BEN Televisions, with his own weekly televised slot titled “Spotlight”, where he would provide a news roundup of key events happening across Africa and the Caribbean.
Norman has also hosted high-profile events at prestigious venues such as the UK Houses of Parliament.
His career highlights as a fashion Model including featuring in ELLE during London Fashion Week AW2020, being one of three models selected for Soho House’s official launch campaign (in July 2022) for their new skin care line, Soho Skin, and walking for premium Nigerian designer, David Wej, at a London Fashion week SS2022 show.
His journey into the world of modelling kickstarted in 2018, when he won the modelling competition, Fashion4Africa UK. In the long term, Norman has ambitions of travelling across Africa, and creating a series of high-value documentaries which highlight and showcase the beauty, stories, and truths within the continent.
Norman has long felt that western media tends not to portray Africa in the most favourable way. To combat this, Norman wants to authentically create entertaining, educational, and inspiring documentaries from a fresh and youthful perspective to help debunk and challenge existing negative stereotypes and preconceptions of Africa.
Norman hopes that his films will enable everyone to truly see the magic that exists in the Motherland, and ultimately, encourage them to visit.
