‘Most Wanted Queens’ is a collaborative effort of 10 Nigerian students
The cast and crew of ‘Most Wanted Queens’, who depict the real lives of Nigerian students studying abroad
The brainchild of Henry Cesh, who is the executive producer of the movie Most Wanted Queens, is a tale about three different girls from different cultures and countries in Kuala Lumpur who put aside their differences and live their lives amidst different adventures.
“There is so much cultural diversity in Malaysia and I thought it was a good background for a movie about the lifestyles of Africans in another country,” said Cesh, who came up with the idea when he first arrived in 2006.
He added that Most Wanted Queens was produced to further fuel the demand in Nigeria for movies that explore the lifestyle of Africans across the globe.
“After six months of market research, we discovered that the quest for Nigerian movies produced abroad has increased tremendously,” he explained at the launching, which was officiated by Information Communication and Culture deputy minister Datuk Maglin Dennis D’Cruz.
Cesh expressed hope that the home movie, which was produced based on the Actors’ Guide of Nigeria (AGN) standard will receive interest of fans from Nollywood (the Nigerian film industry).
The ongoing series will see the talents of top Nigerian, South African, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Kenyan actors at the forefront.
As a series of movies targeted to last several months, it gives room for adequate promotion and publicity for sponsoring organisations interested in supporting the ongoing series that depict real life scenarios of students studying abroad.
Twenty two actors were chosen after a two-day audition process for the project – with 45 hopefuls of various nationalities vying for a spot in the film. Among the talents featured in the first edition of Most Wanted Queens are two Malaysians and one Australian.
“I was encouraged to get involved in the project by African friends and I decided to try it out,” said one of the Malaysian actors, Chan Shi Yen.
The 21-year-old student of Multimedia University believes not many locals encourage students to mix with international students, including Africans but she has had only good experiences with them.
“I have met many good people from overseas and some of them have become my good friends,” added Chan, who has many friends from Botswana.
Chopa Entertainment hopes Most Wanted Queens will boost the integration of Afro-Asian cultures in communities around Malaysia and Asia. The group also hopes future projects will act as a catalyst for young, talented people to pursue their interests.
“We hope to convey information about Malaysian companies to Nigeria through the movie and give the opportunity to individuals and companies to seek business opportunities in both countries,” said the 26-year-old producer.
Currently only showing in the Nigerian market, Cesh has plans of screening Most Wanted Queens in Malaysia after getting approval from the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (FINAS
