bariga Sugar Review (short film)… we were just observers of the film

Year: 2017
Genre: Friendship, Drama
Cast: Halimat Olarewaju, Tunde Azeez, Lucy Ameh, Blessing Samuel, Tina Mba, Gregory Ojefua
Director: Ifeoma Nkiruka Chukwuogo
Writer: Ikenna Edmund Okah, Ifeoma Nkiruka Chukwuogo
Cinematographer: Ademola Soares
Summary: A peek into the daily lives of two children, Jamil and Ese, who strike a friendship at a brothel where their mothers work

Overall Rating: Beignets
Bariga Sugar was a bold move on the writers’ part and we thank them for giving us an idea of what it’s like to be raised in a brothel.
Overall, we were more observers than actual partakers of the narrative
~Yours To Explore~

Delicious
—Definitely what strikes out in Bariga Sugar is the plot, we were just wondering: “Is it appropriate to have kids in a ‘brothel’ even if it’s just for a movie?” But that’s what made it more interesting as we were curious to know what life is like for the children.
The purpose of Bariga Sugar was to humanize both the mothers and children whom society usually stigmatizes
—Make-up and costume designs were spots on 😉
—The film did a great job to limit dialogues and include more silence so we could digest each scene and reflect on the environment. While the brothel was busy running its business, we saw how aimless Jamil (Tunde Azeez) and Ese (Halimat Olarewaju) were, without friends and hoping for a better tomorrow (exemplified by the termite hill symbolism).
Bariga Sugar pointed out the nurture these kids craved but could not have as their mothers were busy with clients
—Loveddd the pale color grading which was a good reflection of the dull and unfulfilled women at the brothel

Bland
—It would have made a tremendous difference to see close-up shots of Jamil and Ese during the scenes when they were emotional. This would have engaged us more in the narrative and stirred our feelings
—Acting was generally passable, nothing memorable
––Some of the dialogues were sadly not audible at times