African Stories on Screen Must Be Balanced and Respect People’s Dignity, Says Nigerian Salesian Producer

Catholic filmmakers in Africa should portray the continent’s different social realities while respecting the dignity of the people whose lives they depict, according to the Executive Producer of The Oratory, the Nigerian-produced Catholic film inspired by St. Don Bosco’s mission to vulnerable young people.

Speaking to ACI Africa in Nairobi on October 29, Fr. Cyril Odia said balance had been a persistent concern while he was writing the script for “The Oratory” film.

“When I was writing the script for the oratory, something just kept banging in my head, which was balance, balance, balance, balance,” the Nigerian-born member of the Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB) said.

Credit: Fr. Cyril Odia

Fr. Cyril cautioned that media could be selective, biased or used for propaganda.

He said the filmmaking initiative sought to address difficult circumstances without reducing the people concerned to objects of sympathy.

“Above all, I think it’s to respect the dignity of the women, the children, the poor people that we are trying to stand for,” said the Rector of Salesian College Celbridge in the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin, who also serves as Youth Pastoral Counsellor and Vocations Director for the Salesians’ Province of Ireland.

Credit: Fr. Cyril Odia

Fr. Cyril has been in Nairobi to preach a three-day parish retreat at the Shrine of Mary Help of Christians, Don Bosco Upper Hill, marking the conclusion of October’s Rosary devotion. His visit also included promoting “The Oratory”.

On Monday, November 2, he clarified that the wider project, called “Street Lab”, involves reaching out to young people on the streets, training them in different aspects of filmmaking and advocating alongside them to bring their difficulties to a global audience.

“The Oratory” is the project’s first production, Street Lab 1, while “Freetown” is Street Lab 2, he said.

Credit: Fr. Cyril Odia

Different communities in one story

Explaining the film’s treatment of inequality, Fr. Cyril pointed to its portrayal of communities on different sides of a bridge.

One side represents people living in prosperity, while the other depicts poverty and deprivation, he said. The Priest at the centre of the story seeks to bring the communities together, encountering tensions in the process.

The Nigerian Salesian Priest, whose ministry centres on young people, said helping disadvantaged children also requires cooperation from benefactors in the wealthier community.

Credit: Fr. Cyril Odia

He described that cooperation as an expression of belonging to one Church family and supporting one another.

“That’s nation building,” he said.

He cautioned against productions that focus on one social reality while overlooking another, leaving audiences with an incomplete impression of a place.

Credit: Fr. Cyril Odia

The intention, he said, was to present people’s circumstances with balance while recognizing their abilities and the value of their experiences.

Beyond expressions of sympathy

Fr. Cyril rejected an approach limited to acknowledging hardship and wishing people well.

“The movie industry is a platform of transformation,” he said.

Credit: Fr. Cyril Odia

The lecturer in youth ministry and spirituality at St. Patrick’s Pontifical University, Maynooth, Ireland, said the films being developed would seek to portray a balanced reality and create opportunities for the people concerned to participate.

“So there’s a strong educational and social aspect to it,” he said, adding, “But it’s not going to be just simplistic or just giving a narrative that is biased.”

The Nigerian Salesian Priest, who serves as chaplain in two secondary schools in Maynooth, explained that preparation for the productions includes training participants.

Credit: Fr. Cyril Odia

“When we begin the project, we don’t just come and do auditioning and start shooting. We actually do a training,” he told ACI Africa during the October 29 interview.

Asked whether African Catholic filmmaking could also show the Church’s growth beyond membership figures, Fr. Cyril said the ability to undertake productions of this scale was itself part of that development.

He said the initiative demonstrated a capacity to participate in filmmaking and bring Catholic stories into public cultural spaces.

Credit: Fr. Cyril Odia

Don Bosco’s engagement with society

The former Rector of the Salesian House of Theology in Maynooth, where he served for seven years, linked the approach to St. Don Bosco’s response to the circumstances of his own time.

He recalled the saint’s commitment to disadvantaged young people through education, practical training and efforts to provide a home. He also highlighted St. Don Bosco’s use of the media available to him, including printing and music.

For Fr. Cyril, filmmaking offered another means of pursuing that mission in contemporary society.

Credit: Fr. Cyril Odia

He said cinema allowed the Church to engage with audiences facing social and political difficulties beyond explicitly religious settings.

The work, Fr. Cyril added, also showed how the Church could bring together its existing talents for evangelization, education and participation in the film industry.