Stephanie Linus, a veteran Nigerian actress, filmmaker, and women and girls advocate, has announced her upcoming project, “When Women Were Counted,” which is based on a historical adaptation of the 1929 Aba Women’s Protest. She will produce the film, and she will be joined on the writing team by Ibe Gerald Oluchi and Joy Isi Bewaji.
According to Ihuoma Elizabeth Obienusi’s historical account, “the women’s protest of 1929, known among Igbo women as Ogu Umunwanyi occurred from November 23, 1929, to January 10, 1930.” It was a resistance movement led by women in the British Colony of Nigeria to oppose colonial policies that limited their political, economic, and social participation in local communities. Women participants were primarily Igbo and Ibibio women, but Ogoni and Andoni women, among others, also took part.”
Along with the project announcement, the actress also announced a casting call on her official Instagram account.
he said,
Hey, Amazonians and Warlords, When Women Were Counted- A film project by Stephanie Linus #upcomingproject. Working on this movie since 2018 has been a spiritual awakening of some sort for me and my team. It’s been six years, and I am glad to announce that we are ready!
Working with some of the best minds (a historian and my writer) to put this together has been a very emotional journey.
There’s a lot to tell about the women of that era – our foremothers. The ones whose voices were not diminished, they did not hide under patriarchy, they were communal, brave, outspoken, unashamed – and they fought for what they believed in.Sisterhood started in the 1920s. A bond so strong even Europeans with guns acknowledged that women cannot be silenced. This is our story: When Women Were Counted.
