At the heart of ‘3 Cold Dishes’ is a story that refuses to reduce women to their bodies, standing instead for the value, strength and agency every woman carries.
The Pan-African thriller tells the story of three women: Esosa (Nigeria), Fatouma (Côte d’Ivoire), and Giselle (Benin), who were trafficked as teenagers and forced into a brutal underworld. Years later, having survived and carved out power in the underground, they reunite to exact a calculated revenge on the men who destroyed their lives. Their mission becomes not just about vengeance but also about reclaiming identity and justice.
Human trafficking remains one of the world’s most persistent crises, with women and girls accounting for 61% of all detected victims globally, according to recent UNODC data. In sub-Saharan Africa, where ‘3 Cold Dishes’ is rooted, the picture is even more alarming: children make up the majority of trafficking victims, and girls represent nearly half, often trapped in cycles of exploitation ranging from forced labour to sexual abuse and prostitution.
Waje Iruobe reiterated this; she believes without embedding these messages into our creative work, protests and soundbites alone will not suffice: “If we don’t take these messages and fuse them with our arts, they will never really drive home.” She celebrated the production crew and cast and crew behind the film for bringing into focus voices too often silenced or ignored.
Osas Ighodaro echoed this commitment when speaking of ‘3 Cold Dishes’ thematic core: “Trafficking is not just a headline but a lived reality, and this film gives voice to those experiences, offering viewers a chance to understand and perhaps avoid the danger.” She described the film as one that “brings light to the dark sides of trafficking”, emphasising the urgency to widen sympathetic understanding and act rather than turn away.
Directed by Asurf Oluseyi, written by Tomi Adesina, and featuring a mix of Nigerian, Ivorian, Beninese and Senegalese talent, including Wale Ojo, Fat Tuore, Maud Guerard, Ruby Akubueze and Taiwo Adeyemi, ‘3 Cold Dishes’ deploys bilingual storytelling in English and French to reflect the transnational nature of the issue it examines.
A cast member commented on the project, calling it “the biggest Pan-African movie this year” and emphasising not just the scale of the operation but also its ambition to shift perspectives on the theme. The film is positioned to reach a broad audience across West Africa and beyond. The message is clear: this is not a film to watch and forget, but one to reflect on and act upon.
