Thandie Newton
*Thandie Newton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Anika Noni Rose and Joseph Mawle have arrived in Calabar, Nigeria, to shoot the movie adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel “Half of a Yellow Sun.”
BIlled as an epic love story, the movie weaves together the lives of four people swept up in the turbulence of war and centers on Olanna (Newton) and Kainene (Rose), glamorous twins from a wealthy Nigerian family.
Returning to a privileged city life in newly independent 1960s Nigeria after their expensive English education, Olanna shocks her family by going to live with her lover (Ejiofor) in the dusty university town of Nsukka, and Kainene turns out to be a successful businesswoman when she takes over the family interests — and surprises herself when she falls in love with Richard (Mawle), an English writer. They both become embroiled in the Nigerian civil war.
The adaptation marks the big-screen debut of Nigerian theater director, playwright and novelist Biyi Bandele.
John Boyega, who received critical acclaim in last year’s “Attack the Block,” also stars alongside several Nigerian household names including Onyeka Onwenu, Genevieve Nnaji and veteran actor Zack Orji.