The premiere of ‘Alive Till Dawn’ introduced an apocalyptic drama to Nollywood’s growing body of work to reinforce the industry’s expanding genre range and exploration.
Directed by Sulaiman Ogegbe and co-produced by Uzor Arukwe, ‘Alive Till Dawn’ leans into fear, dread, and the primal instinct to survive. Best known for his work in front of the camera, ‘Alive Till Dawn’ marked Uzor Arukwe’s debut as a producer, a transition he said he has embraced with dedication. “I took this on to take on such responsibility and enter rooms where these conversations are being had, and I’m looking forward to doing more of this,” he said in response to what this feat meant for him.
The cast features Sunshine Rosman, Uzor Arukwe, Michael Dappa, Chisom Agoawuike, and Sani Mu’azu. The film follows a group of individuals thrust into the chaos of a zombie attack in their city. Their one desperate goal? Stay alive till dawn. Produced by Leo Obienyi, a filmmaker who has long nursed the dream to make the horror/apocalyptic genre widely accepted by Nollywood’s mainstream audience.
Seeing ‘Alive Till Dawn’ finally get to the big screen was, for him, the culmination of a journey that was anything but smooth. “We are inexperienced in this genre; even with rehearsals, we had to help the extras learn to be zombies and I had to help the makeup artists perfect the zombie look, and no great feat comes without obstacles,” he said.
Sunshine Rosman, who plays Alex, the police chief’s daughter caught at the epicentre of the apocalyptic outbreak, described the set as a creatively electric experience. “It was a thrilling and exhilarating experience to be on set surrounded by young people who are enthusiastic to bring a new genre to life,” she said. For Rosman, the project represented something significant: an opportunity to step beyond her familiar romance-driven Nollywood stories and explore something new and different.
‘Alive Till Dawn’ is now showing in cinemas. And it is promising to take its audience on a new world of Nigerian horror-thrillers.
