Ugwumpiti
Ugwumpiti (20 minutes) is the story of a young boy, Maurice Nwokeji, who survived hunger and bombs in the Biafran war in Nigeria with his younger brother. Ugwumpiti is the name that the children made up to describe the one meal of day provided by the Red Cross and that saved their lives. Eventually Maurice’s parents, who were in London during the war, tracked down the boys and brought them to London. Ugwumpiti was nominated as the AHRC BAFTA Research Film of the Year in 2017.
The film’s soundtrack is entirely by Maurice and his reggae group One Jah.
'I cried and laughed at Maurice’s stories. It’s fantastic!
Response by viewer to Ugwumpiti
'Someone has to tell our story before it is completely erased from memory. Maurice did in gripping details. We may never know how many Biafrans were lost… but history will remain our witness'.
Response to Ugwumpiti online
'Your story-telling ability – your factual realness and ability to still laugh has created the possibility for revisiting subliminal traumas.… I was nine in 1967 and my heart still aches for children all over who are forced to go through what we went through'.
Response to Ugwumpiti online
"It is something I always dreamed of … to document my side of the story of war…I found it a very healing experience. Cause doing this album [songs inspired by Biafra war] and talking to you is all around the same time, you know. It’s like being constipated for a long time and then suddenly…. "
Maurice Nwokeji who arrived, aged nine, from Nigeria, in 1970