‘A Thousand Miles’ goes on set soon as promoters announce completion of script

Promoters of ‘A Thousand Miles’, the soulful story of a naïve young girl and a group of desperate Africans bound for Europe, have announced the completion of the film script which brings to an end two years of pre-production stage for the movie.

With the completion and delivery of the script, Osita Oparaugo, CEO, Reddot Television Network and producer of the film, said the entire cast and crew are set to go on locations for the making of the movie.

It hasn’t been an easy journey, Oparaugo said. It all began in 2018 and has seen the promoters sending researchers and informants to five African countries and engaging writers who put sleepless nights to translate the ideas into a ready-to-shoot script.

‘A Thousand Miles’ is the story of a naïve young girl and a group of Africans desperately bound for Europe, all resolute on escaping the ineffectual systems and desolate conditions prevalent in their societies, each burdened with a peculiar quest, but become trapped in a common cage of terror, enabled by their blind zeal for redemption.

“It’s 65 percent true-life stories told by different people who have embarked on this journey before, two of whom were imprisoned in Libya for over two years each, and one that successfully ended up in Italy and finally settled in the Netherlands,” Oparaugo said.

It is a film about the lies, hope, deceit and the dangers African youths go through trying to cross into Europe through the deserts and the Atlantic Ocean, he said.

“These two years of work will never have been easy without the help of the International Organisation for Migration in Lagos, Nigeria, The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), which not only provided the needed insights during pre-production but participated at our October 2018 10km walk against irregular migration and human trafficking in Lagos Nigeria,” he said.

Izu Ojukwu, director of the film who also oversaw the entire scriptwriting process, reckons that with the growing interest in African cinema from around the world, ‘A Thousand Miles’ could ride the wave of this trend to bring a greater understanding of the values and virtues of a true African in its unadulterated form.

“Filming through four African countries and Europe; capturing breathtaking aggressive activities of the Sahara and the Mediterranean with a blend of highly talented local and international crew, ‘A Thousand Miles’ is designed for maximum production value,” Ojukwu said.

“It will be a high-octane action thriller, visually stunning, emotionally engaging, mentally stimulating and waggishly therapeutic. And to sum it all, it will be a great story well told,” he said.

Oparaugo expressed special thanks to NAPTIP Lagos office, Ike Egbuebile, Ifeoma Williams, Emmanuel Chukwuma, Emeka Egbuchulem, 41st Miss Nigeria, Nigerian Police Command Lagos, and the Federal Road Safety Commission for joining the October 2018 10km walk, and the entire Footprint to Africa team for their clerical support.

“Izu Ojukwu as a film director is a winner. By the grace of God, as producer, I am a winner, and we both agree that this film is a lifetime opportunity to tell a story that will last over 100 years, evoke the right emotions while entertaining viewers, and help many African youths change their mentality about embarking on this dangerous journey,” Oparaugo said.

“With the right support from our associates at home and those working out of New York under ADG, represented by Maxine Gordon, to ensure the right cast is sourced, we are sure this is The Film,” he said.