Ghanaian actor and filmmaker Kwadwo Nkansah, popularly known as LilWin, has broken down in tears in a video shared online while recounting the unexpected challenges he encountered during the shooting of his upcoming movie, Journey to Africa (Nzulezu), featuring some of Nigeria’s biggest movie stars.
Despite the excitement and noise surrounding the production he has been making, the filmmaker has revealed that things did not go as smoothly as he had anticipated.
He has disclosed that the shoot reportedly thrown into confusion after the Nigerian actors expressed reservations about returning to the filming location.
It is public knowledge that the movie was shot in Nzulezu, a unique community in Ghana’s Western Region where houses are built on stilts over water. Because the entire storyline revolves around the community and its distinctive way of life, the location was central to the production.
However, reaching the set reportedly became a major challenge for the cast and crew, who had to travel by boat for approximately 40 minutes to get to the location.
According to LilWin, the Nigerian stars refused to return to the set after three days of shooting, explaining that they were no longer comfortable travelling on the water. They reportedly suggested that the production be moved to another location, leaving the filmmaker struggling to figure out how to proceed.
“After three days of shooting the movie, all the stars said they would not return to the set or travel on the water again. They asked for the movie to be shot somewhere else, but the storyline was about Nzulezu, where people live on the water, and the entire story was based there. All the stars refused to go back on the water to continue shooting, and there was confusion,” he recounted.
The development according to LilWin put him in a difficult position, particularly because the team had planned to complete the shoot within a week.
He added that moving the production elsewhere was not a straightforward option, as doing so would have undermined the story built around Nzulezu.
The actor explained that he had to approach the Nigerian stars individually and reassure them in an attempt to convince them to continue with the project.
Interestingly, despite his frustration over the situation, LilWin admitted that he understood why the actors were afraid of travelling on the water.
He linked their concerns to a previous drowning incident involving one of their colleagues during the filming of a movie, suggesting that the tragedy may have contributed to their reluctance to continue shooting in Nzulezu.
“I don’t blame the Nigerian stars because, not long ago, one of their colleagues drowned and died while shooting a water scene for a movie. So, to some extent, I understood their concerns,” he added.
The highly anticipated movie features celebrated Nollywood personalities, including Kanayo O. Kanayo, Patience Ozokwor, Mike Ezuruonye, Charles Awurum, Zubby Michael and Destiny Etiko.
