“The Man Died,” a feature film based on Wole Soyinka’s prison memoirs, was screened on July 11, 2025, as part of the African Theatre Association (AfTA) Conference in Stuttgart, Germany.
Held at the School of Media (Hochschule der Medien), University of Stuttgart, the screening formed a key segment of the conference’s opening night. The 105-minute film, which dramatizes Soyinka’s 27-month incarceration during the Nigerian Civil War, was followed by a post-screening discussion with the film’s director, Awam Amkpa, and producer, Femi Odugbemi.
In the invitation letter to the film team, conference convener Prof. Annette Bühler-Dietrich noted the event’s alignment with the theme, “African and Afrodiasporic Theatre in the Digital Age.” “The Man Died,” she said, provided an important cultural entry point for examining how literature is translated for the screen in a global context.
Written by UK-based screenwriter Bode Asiyanbi and produced by Zuri24 Media, the film stars Wale Ojo as Wole Soyinka, alongside Sam Dede, Norbert Young, Francis Onwochei, Christiana Oshunniyi, and Abraham Awam-Amkpa. A second, 124-minute academic cut is also available for institutional screenings.
Since premiering in July 2024 to mark Soyinka’s 90th birthday, “The Man Died” has traveled across major festivals and academic platforms worldwide, including TIFF, AFRIFF, and the Luxor International Film Festival, where it won Best Film on an African Issue. It is under review by several global streamers and is scheduled for future stops in Oxford, Abu Dhabi, Berlin, and New York.
The Stuttgart screening adds to the film’s growing international footprint and reaffirms Soyinka’s enduring global relevance—as a writer, political prisoner, and humanist.