Sep 16

Sep 16 The Legend of the Vagabond Queen of Lagos. A Film Putting up a Resistance

The Legend of the Vagabond Queen of Lagos, which has just had its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, is the debut film from The Agbajowo Collective. It tells the story of Jawu, a young single mother who by fate or fortune uncovers the corruption behind the forced eviction of her waterfront community in Lagos. Inspired by the real-life events of the Otomo Gbame community in 2016, the film's seven-year journey reflects the resilience, unity, and strength of its creators. For the Agbajowo Collective, this is a personal story that highlights over four decades of informal settlement displacements in Nigeria.

Still from *The Legend of the Vagabond Queen of Lagos*

The Agbajowo Collective, a group of seven global filmmakers and young storytellers from Lagos' informal settlements, was formed “to use media to make a change in their communities,” says Atinkpo Segun Elijah an Otodo Gbame community member and key contributor to story development and performance direction of the film. In 2016, he and other members of The Collectives' lives changed in an instant when police raided and set fire to homes in the Otodo Gbame fishing settlement, where thousands of people lived. Between the fires and the indiscriminate bullets sprayed, the community fled to the water where fishing canoes became their refuge.

Civilian journalists streaming the devastation during the raids captured the attention of the press and rallied social media outcry, lending itself to the film's narrative as archive news coverage and viral posts are featured throughout. In a tweet by the Lagos State Governor the demolition was a security measure to protect all Lagosians from militants. In taking control of their story, in the film The Collective reversed the claims of the Governor, portraying those in power as the “militants” with blood marked money planned for the development of real estate on the informal settlement.

The Legend of the Vagabond Queen of Lagos is a visually stunning and emotionally resonant cinematic experience that immerses its audience into the beauty, expanse and grittiness of its waterfront community, not reflective of its shoestring budget of just over $200,000. The Collective secured funding from Sundance Film and Berlinale World Cinema Fund, however with financial resources as they were, the “coming together of many different communities and networks” and the creation of a new model for filmmaking is what made this possible, remarks Elijah. Greatly exemplified by three hundred former Otomo Gbame residents that took part in the film. The powerful finale scene is a reenactment by the actual courageous women who stood on the frontline to protect their homes against the authorities in 2016. Mathew Cerf, an award-winning documentary filmmaker states that the film was “fortified by the personal evictions of the extras,” which led to the “authentic outpouring” we see on screen.

Akinmuyiwa Bisola, who grew up in the Itun Agan community and served as a Producer and First Assistant spoke about the importance of making The Legend of the Vagabond Queen of Lagos. “We made this movie for a reason. To make people know about these forceful evictions that are happening on waterfront communities. And to make the government know the impact of these evictions. And to amplify the voices of those impacted and show that there is power in unity. Show that there is a resistance.”

The rolling credits display the prominence of these displacements over the last forty years, with the most recent taking place in March 2024. So whilst this film ticks the box for entertainment value, The Legend of the Vagabond Queen of Lagos is much more than that.

The Agbajowo Collective are Okechukwu Samuel, Ogungbamila Temitope, Bisola Akinmuyiwa, Atinkpo Elijah, Edukpo Tina, James Tayler and Mathew Cerf.