31 Jan 2024

In August this year, two years following his doping ban, Botswana’s 2012 Olympic silver medalist, Nijel Amos, will have something to smile about. A feature film documentary on the story of Amos, titled From Marobela to the World, is expected to hit the screens. This documentary is being directed by the legendary Motswana creative, Ralph Williams, better known as Stagga. The story of Amos is one of hardship and survival shaped by circumstances, rather than just the winning side that the world has come to associate with him as an Olympic medalist.

Stagga, in collaboration with Invictus World Wide LLC and LCMC Company, two of New York’s music management companies, curated the story of Amos, covering his childhood, his journey as an athlete with its achievements and shortcomings, as well as his social life.

Reflecting on the documentary, Stagga said, “I met Nijel in 2019, but the idea of a documentary started in 2014. I did not know anything about him. I just knew something that everyone knew about him. I did not even know he is from Marobela. I just thought he is from Gaborone but a friend, Thato Kgosimore who knew Nijel’s background was the one who told me a lot about him.”

Raised by his grandmother, Amos is one of those naturally gifted individuals who excelled in their talent. Stagga mentioned that upon learning about Amos’s incredible story, he realized that a documentary about his life was the next step.

In 2019, when Stagga and his partners finally met with Amos, he already had offers from experienced Asian companies interested in telling his story. “He actually had an offer from an experienced company but he signed with me. And this is my first documentary. I have not done any documentary before” said Stagga.

With an experienced team around him, Stagga was ready to tell Amos’ story, which is “not just a Botswana story but the world as anybody in the world can relate to.” In December 2019, the first trailer was shot by Stagga and musical producer and director, Larry Campbell of LCMC Company, and the idea was to start shooting and release the documentary before the 2021 Olympics. “But the world shut down in 2020 when we were to start shooting.”

In 2021 when the gates were opened, we came to Botswana and started shooting in Gaborone and all the way to Marobela where we met family, friends and everyone who grew up with and shaped Nijel into the young man he is today,” said Stagga, who is based in the United Kingdom.

“He told me how he started running. He actually started training without realising that it will pay off one day. He told me of how he would run eight kilometers every day from school going home to his grandmother’s because he knew he would not get any food if he arrived late.”

Stagga explained that the daily eight kilometre run after school was actually training for him in a way, and at 16 years he crossed first the Southern African Youth championships finish line, and later got everyone’s attention at the Africa Junior Athletics championships.

Without saying much about his suspension, as more of it is in the documentary, Stagga said many things have happened. He is of the view that Amos failing the doping test is because of economic factors. The documentary, as Stagga explained, will have re-enactment scenes to add some flair to the film.

“We do not want it to be just about interviews because it will be boring. We will have re-enactment scenes of his mother’s funeral, how he learned to run as a kid, etc.,” Stagga said.

In any film, there is music, and Campbell explained that they have been able to identify and work with some local artists to add to the soundtracks for this documentary. “The soundtrack should reflect the natural sound of the country and this means I had to study all this,” said Campbell.

Campbell, a renowned musical director and producer who worked with international artists such as R. Kelly, Charlie Wilson, Chris Brown, Usher, Tupac Shakur, Michael Bolton and others, said the soundtracks need to be in continuity with the film itself.

“I have done a lot of music for films and television, and the most important thing is to match the story with emotions and songs; you are either sad, ecstatic, crazy, criminal, happy. The story should also give you those emotions,” Campbell noted.

He said he kept the music traditional from the region and also has a new angle of what young people listen to now.

A fan of track and field and long-distance sprints, Campbell knew about Amos before this project. “I could remember one of his races, seeing him throwing his hands around, and being a fan, I understand the connection between sport and film,” Campbell said.

Also, he said, he and Nijel clicked because of their musical likeness. “He is a DJ, so we clicked on this project right away because we are of like minds,” he said, adding that music is a very important part of any storytelling. Campbell also said they hope the soundtrack of the documentary film will get attention at the Grammies.

“Timing is of everything, that is why we have to be on time with all our releases and submissions,” he said. Partnerships in the creative space are what make a successful story.

And working with LCMC and Invictus World Wide is a collaboration that emphasises the power of collaboration. “Our mission from the moment we started this project was to show Botswana how you can collaborate with international companies to export your content, movies and sport,” said the president of Invictus World Wide, Carlos Pimentel.

He said Amos is a perfect vehicle for such export because he is a national icon and global athlete. Pimentel, an entertainment lawyer, further said as an international company, their mission is to work more with the country’s creatives and show them that it could be done as long as they have certain things in line.

“As a lawyer, I have always spoken here about training entertainment lawyers in Botswana because there are none in the country,” he said.

 “The major project here is the ecosystem of what we can do with the music, the legalities, and filmmaking,” Pimentel said,

The Marobela to the World documentary will be launched with Capitol Cinemas and also launched in Marobela, as well as in other cities of New York and London. Stagga said road shows would also be extended in some rural areas in Botswana.

“We cannot call this film “Marobela to the World” and not launch there, so we will have a mobile screen to showcase there as well as in other rural places.”

He also said they were in talks with the national television, Btv, as the documentary was a national interest story. The film documentary is also on its way to the Cannes Film Festival, and submissions have already been done. The Cannes Film festival is scheduled for May this year.  ENDS