“I’m Familiar with Grief” – Editi Effiong Discusses His Connection with ‘The Black Book’

By Milcah Tanimu

In response to critics of the portrayal of grief in the movie ‘The Black Book,’ Editi Effiong, the producer and director of the project, shared a personal connection with the main character, Paul Edima, portrayed by Richard Mofe-Damijo.

During a conversation with Chude Jideonwo, Effiong revealed that grief was not an unfamiliar emotion to him, as he had experienced the loss of two dear people in painful ways. He addressed the criticism by saying, “I read someone in the comments; one says the grief in the black book was so superficial and people don’t grieve like that… No, you do not know grief more than I do. You see, my youngest brother was my first child… I lost him to cancer; it’s the worst way to die.”

Effiong went on to share another heart-wrenching experience of losing his son after a lengthy struggle. He recounted the painful decision he had to make when he received a call about his wife’s condition while she was giving birth, saying, “I just left America, got back to Lagos, and then I got called. My wife is in the hospital, and we were having a child, and I had to answer the question, Who do we save? My child is born 24 months and then he’s not going to make it.”

‘The Black Book’ narrates the story of a father seeking revenge for the unjust killing of his son by an old adversary from his dark past. The film delves into the complexities of grief when a loved one is lost and touches on themes such as corruption.

Effiong also discussed the challenging journey of marketing the film for two years after completing production in 2020. He described the numerous rejections the movie faced, with feedback such as “It cannot be an original because there are certain standards it hasn’t met.”

Upon its release, ‘The Black Book’ achieved significant success, quickly becoming the third-most-watched film on Netflix globally between September 25, 2023, and October 1, 2023, with 11.2 million views and 21.3 million hours of viewing recorded. The film remained in the top 10 global rankings for English films on the streaming platform for an additional three weeks.

The movie garnered views from 69 countries, including South Korea, the United States of America, the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Kenya, Martinique, Panama, Poland, Romania, Venezuela, and Nigeria, subsequently breaking global records.