Akeem Lasisi
Dividing lines among industries have become very thin but it takes a stubborn gut to abandon medicine for acting. That is what Kiki Omeili did years ago when she jilted the stethoscope for for the screen.
She is one of the later-generation actors/actresses who threw in everything even when cinemas had not found their way back and traditional marketers called the shots. Omeili has appeared in several films, including ‘Married and Living Single’, ‘Gbomo Gbomo Express’, ‘Catch.er’, ‘Couple Days’ and ‘The Antique’. But she went a step higher recently when she produced her first feature film, ‘Run’, which tells the Lagos story in a refreshing way.
On why she went into film production, Omeili says, at a point, she started having dissatisfaction with the kind of roles she was getting.
“I want to create for myself the kind of role I want to do,” Omeili notes.
She expresses the fulfilment that ‘Run’, which started working on about four years ago and is now in cinemas, is finally out.
‘I am super excited that we have finished work on the movie and are now ready to offer it to the public. It opened in cinemas as from August 23,” she adds.
On some of the challenges she encountered in the course of producing ‘Run’, she recalls that the fact that many of the scenes were shot on Lagos roads, including in the night, made things tough. The crew needed light, meaning they had to tow generators up and down.
“There is also the question of security, you know,” Omeili adds. “There are many unsavoury characters on the road. What is now very important is that I was able to overcome all of that and ‘Run’ is here. I am very proud of the project.”
Run is centred on a hardworking young woman who lives a dull and routine life. She comes face to face with a situation while running one night, which throws her life into chaos. The young woman is then left to wriggle herself out of the mess, back to her former life.
Directed by Uche Chukwu, it stars some notable Nollywood actors such as Rotimi Salami, Kelechi Udegbe, Greg Ojefua, and comedian Owen Gee. Run is Kiki’s debut feature film as a producer.
Omeili had, in 2016, produced a short film ‘Unprotected’, which was selected for screening at the short film corner of the Cannes International Film Festival in France. The product of the University of Lagos College of Medicine once hosted the popular television reality dance show ‘Dance 234’ h had also taken part in ‘Behind The Smile’, ‘The Valley Between’, ‘Footprints’ and ‘Lekki Wives’.
According to a profile, she was born in Lagos, and is the second of four children of Charles and Maureen Omeili. She is ethnic Igbo from Nimo in Anambra State. Her Father, Charles, was a banker with First Bank Nigeria and retired as a general manager, while her mother, Maureen, was the Controller of Prisons in Ibadan, Oyo State.
Omeili began performing in stage plays all through her primary and secondary school years. This continued when she got into the university as she was a member of the drama club and acted in various productions as well as taking part in several drama competitions. In 2006, she obtained a medical degree from the College of Medicine, University of Lagos.
