Filmmaker Niyi Akinmolayan has dedicated his new film Progressive Tailors Club to late actress Rachel Oniga.
Ahead of the premiere of the movie, the filmmaker wrote a tribute on Instagram on Sunday to the actress and his mum as he dedicated the movie to them.
According to Niyi, he only planned on dedicating the film to his mum who died ten years ago until Rachel Oniga passed. Niyi also recounted that the actress who also featured in the movie was the first to call him back after he had sent out the scripts to the cast and she was pleased with it.
“Today is a little bit bittersweet for me. I had hoped I would be dedicating Progressive Tailors Club to just one person; my mum. She was the inspiration for the movie as much of the ideas and characters inside were from the Tailors club she founded while alive and the stories she shared after their meetings. She passed on 10yrs ago but she still lives in my head.
“Aunty Rachel Oniga was the first actor to call back after we sent out the scripts. We spoke for almost an hour. She said ‘Niyi where do you get all these Crazy ideas from’. I told her they were all my Mum’s. She said…ah we must dedicate the movie to her memory o. Then we laughed real hard about Mrs Edem; the character Rachel plays in the film,” he wrote in parts.
In conclusion, Niyi said that even though he does not believe in the afterlife, he knows that the two women will forever be alive to him.
“Even though I do not believe in the afterlife, I can find some solace in knowing that as long as this movie exists, these two beautiful women will forever be alive to me,” he said.
Rachel Oniga died on Friday, July 30, 2021. She was aged 64.
