What happens when the gods of African mythology are forced to answer for their actions in a courtroom? That question sits at the centre of Advocate of the Gods, an upcoming griot film starring Beauty Tukura and Nnani Akah.
Esse Akwawa, producer and CEO of Webek Studios, says the film explores African mythology through a contemporary setting, bringing gods and humans into the same courtroom and examining what happens when the former are held accountable.
In a recent conversation with The Nollywood Reporter (TNR), Akwawa acknowledged the Nigerian film industry’s long-standing interest in stories about gods, spirits and their relationships with humanity. However, Advocate of the Gods takes the concept in a different direction by asking what would happen if the gods themselves had to answer for their actions.
“What if the gods were held accountable? What if they had to answer for their actions? And what if humanity could actually take them to court?” she said.
“At its heart, it is a supernatural legal drama, but it is also a comedy, mystery, mythology and social commentary. We bring gods and humans into the same courtroom and give them the same things that drive people in the real world; ego, power, betrayal, loyalty, politics and the need for justice.”
For Akwawa, the film’s contemporary setting allows African mythology to be presented as something more immediate rather than distant or historical. The gods are treated as complex characters whose conflicts can be understood through familiar human experiences.
“The promise is really to make African mythology feel fresh, entertaining, and surprisingly familiar. So for me, Advocate of the Gods stands out because it entertains you first but then quietly makes you think,” she said.
Beyond its courtroom premise, the film explores the power of stories and what happens when they are lost, distorted or taken away from the people who own them.
Akwawa says this is reflected in the film’s questions around memory and interpretation.
“What happens when a story survives for hundreds of years through oral tradition? Who decides what is true? What happens when another person comes along and rewrites that story?”
She also points to the history of African mythology, history and cultural identity being documented from external perspectives, arguing that Advocate of the Gods creates room to reimagine these stories from within the mythology itself while questioning how accurately they have been preserved.
Another theme explored in the film is balance, particularly the idea that gods and humans need each other and that when the relationship between them becomes distorted, the wider universe is affected.
From a producer’s perspective, Akwawa believes film remains one of the most powerful forms of cultural preservation because it can preserve not only information but also imagination.
“That is one of the things I find exciting about Advocate of the Gods. We did not make a documentary about African mythology. We created an entertaining fictional universe that draws deeply from our cultural history and traditional belief systems.”
For Akwawa, this creates an opportunity for the film to open conversations about mythology, history, and culture while remaining a work of fiction.
The exact release details for Advocate of the Gods remain under wraps, although Akwawa says audiences will not have to wait long.
“And when it arrives, I think audiences are going to have a lot of questions, in the best possible way. After all, if the gods can go to court, who knows what other cases are waiting to be heard?”
