Ogochukwu Umeadi has argued that cinema and literature are not separate creative disciplines but extensions of the same storytelling tradition.
Speaking with The Nollywood Reporter, he said the Nigerian creative ecosystem continues to limit itself by treating both industries as disconnected spaces.
“They are one body suffering from an unnecessary separation of limbs,” he said.
For Umeadi, both forms are driven by the same impulse: to preserve memory and interpret human experience.
“They are siblings born from the same human hunger, to tell stories, preserve memory, wrestle with meaning and make sense of existence,” he said.
He noted that while Nigerian literature enjoys strong global recognition, film is still working toward similar critical acceptance despite its commercial reach.
That imbalance, he argued, reflects a missed opportunity within the creative economy.
“So for me, the question is not whether collaboration is necessary. It is why we have delayed it for so long,” he said.
Umeadi said filmmakers often arrive in cinema through different artistic paths, including literature, theatre, photography and music, which shape how they approach storytelling.
He called for closer collaboration between both industries, including literary festivals featuring film screenings and publishers engaging filmmakers earlier in the development process.
“Imagine literary festivals with film screenings, and film festivals with book stands and author conversations,” he said.
He also pointed to international examples of literary-to-film adaptation, citing The Social Network, adapted from Ben Mezrich’s The Accidental Billionaires by Aaron Sorkin.
Umeadi said such collaborations should become more normal in Nigeria’s creative space.
With his documentary No Let Dem Die set to screen at the Plateau International Literary Festival, he said the project reflects these ideas in practice.
The film explores themes of inheritance, memory and cultural erosion — not only in material terms, but also emotional, linguistic and communal.
Its title is inspired by the anthology Don’t Let Him Die, published in honour of Christopher Okigbo.
He described the film as “an act of resistance against forgetting.”
Umeadi added that beyond festivals, he hopes the film can reach audiences through academic institutions, NGOs and cultural spaces.
