1971 film about a Nigerian immigrant in '60s US 'Bushman' returns to cinemas

1971 film about a Nigerian immigrant in '60s US 'Bushman' returns to cinemas

After more than half a century, the docu-fiction will return to the cinemas in 4K.

US-based film distribution companies Kino Lorber and Milestone Film and Video have announced the release of a 4K restoration of the 1971 film Bushman centred around a Nigerian immigrant, Paul Okpokam in the US in the 1960s.

This new restoration will premier in the US at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) on February 2nd, 2024 after many years of being inaccessible to the public. However, it will make its screening debut next week on January 15th, 2024 at The Museum of Modern Art's (MoMA) film preservation festival.

The University of California Berkeley Art Museum, Pacific Film Archive and The Film Foundation, with funding from Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation, carried out the 4k restoration of the initial work by David Schickele in 1971.

The 75-minute docu-fictional comedy sheds light on Peace Corps veteran, David Schickele enlisting his Nigerian friend, Paul Okpokam in 1968 to film a light-hearted comedy about the adventures of an African in San Francisco, America.

The production soon turns to a real-life tale of Okpokam's encounter with the racial tensions of America, including interracial relationships and cultural clashes, with him being wrongfully accused of terrorism during the events of a strike at the college, one-year detention and eventual deportation.

It was however a dark time both in the United States and in Nigeria, as the US was facing unrest following the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. And the Biafra Civil War was taking its course in Nigeria.

According to Milestone, the African premiere of the restoration was at the 2023 Bayelsa International Film Festival in Nigeria.

👉 Get LiveScore update here