14-24 nov 2024
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Machine Boys

Machine Boys

Karimah Ashadu
Nigeria, Italy, Germany
2024
8 min
Dutch Premiere
Paradocs
Synopsis

The young men driving okada motorbikes offer an alternative taxi service in the Nigerian capital Lagos. They weave at top speed with their passengers on the back through the often congested and poorly maintained streets of the most densely populated city on the African continent. The Nigerian government banned okadas in 2020, and hundreds of them have been confiscated. The work itself is dangerous, too: they are often involved in accidents, and are sometimes deliberately run off the road.

In Machine Boys, several okada riders talk about why they continue anyway. The main reason is that it pays well—one rider explains that it enabled him to fund his studies. It remains a lucrative business model, even including the bribes they have to pay the police to continue driving.

But clinging to this forbidden subculture is about more than just earning money, suggests director Karimah Ashadu, using imagery that nods to the romance of gangster life. The okada riders are proud entrepreneurs who keep their motorbikes in top condition—they even give them names. With God on their side they will continue to defy the dangers of Lagos.

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Credits
8 min
color
DCP
Spoken languages: Hausa
Director
    Karimah Ashadu
    Karimah Ashadu
Production
    Leonardo Bigazzi for Fondazione In Between Art Film
    Leonardo Bigazzi for Fondazione In Between Art Film
Co-production
    Karimah Ashadu for Golddust by Aahadu
    Karimah Ashadu for Golddust by Aahadu
Cinematography
    Aigberadion Israel Ikhazuangbe
    Aigberadion Israel Ikhazuangbe
Editing
    Karimah Ashadu
    Karimah Ashadu
Screening copy
    Karimah Ashadu
    Karimah Ashadu

Stills

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