"But then I wandered into a curio in the festival lineup, a Nigerian drama called “The Legend of the Vagabond Queen of Lagos,” directed not by a single filmmaker but by a group called the Agbajowo Collective, made up of waterfront slum dwellers, community activists and a few technical helpers.The movie was on none of my critical colleagues’ radar; it came to town without a U.S. distributor and, as far as I know, left without one. And it is excellent, a gripping magical-realist tale rooted in the real-life injustice of Lagos neighborhoods getting bulldozed by corrupt Nigerian government officials to make room for resort casinos from which they’ll profit — a community tragedy that continues. “Legend” is professionally shot, evocatively scored and edited like a thriller, with a meaty central performance by Temi Ami-Williams as a grieving mother who transforms into an avenging angel in a fable that feels like a distant cousin to “Beasts of the Southern Wild” but stands defiantly on its own collective feet.How can you see this movie? At this juncture, I don’t know. I do know that Netflix’s international offerings have space for a “Legend of the Vagabond Queen of Lagos” if the vagaries of film distribution allow it, which is an improvement over previous years, when a discovery like this might surface at a festival only to disappear forever."
I remember seeing and thoroughly enjoying "Beasts of the Southern Wild," which I reviewed for TYWKIWDBI. If this is anything comparable, it will be worth viewing.
Comments excerpted from "Why I go to film festivals: Beyond buzz and applause there's treasure."
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