REHEARSAL
DIRECTED BY MICHAEL OMONUA
NIGERIA // 2021
14 MINS
How do you stage a miracle healing? Boundaries dissolve between church and theatre, faith and credibility.
Reflective Encounters
“Simple staging and a languid camera hides the emotional complexity at play in Rehearsal, Michael Omonua’s scathing critique of religious corruption. As a sinister pastor, Brutus Richard towers over his subordinates in the church. Blankly, they practice a Sunday service that culminates in a fake miracle healing. Set and shot at the National Theatre in Lagos, Omonua uses direct address to dismantle the viewer’s sympathies. Sometimes, a scene will break down to reveal that it’s part of the pastor’s elaborate rehearsal. The setting’s blatant theatrical allusions draw a line between the spectacle of church and that of the theatre.
Reality exists behind the frame, outside the space of the film. We are reminded of the flowing of air, by the breeze through curtains that drape the whole set. Bold lighting makes the wood-paneled walls of this church shine, while light fades through like specs of dust. Ruby Akubueze’s face as one of his followers is used perfectly to search for the line between belief, abuse, and complicity. In one terrifying scene between her and the pastor, Omonua drops the otherwise rigid camera to show a frantic suggestion of violence. When, exactly, does the rehearsal stop?”
— Ben Flanagan
Director’s Statement
I've always seen the church as having a performance arts aspect to it. Whether it's the stage, the costumes, the song and dance of the choir or the charismatic Pastor on stage. Pastor as performer is something I've wanted to explore within the setting of a corrupt church led by a fake Pastor.
With the performance arts angle I thought what if in the course of prepping for Sunday Service our Pastor and his staff prep just like a group of actors prep for a play. If we're seeing fake miracles then I'm sure they rehearse just like actors.
With that in mind I decided to make a film that focusses on the rehearsal that takes place behind the scenes of corrupt church.
Filmmaker Bio
Michael Omonua is a film director and screenwriter based in Lagos Nigeria. He graduated from the film school UCA Farnham and has since gone on to complete several short films and one feature.
His films have screened at many prestigious Festivals such as Berlinale, International Film Festival Rotterdam, BFI London Film Festival and Encounters.