The Legend of the Vagabond Queen of Lagos

Drawn from the headlines and charged with outrage, the debut from Nigeria’s Agbajowo Collective is a riveting indictment of the unchecked development and forced evictions besetting Africa’s largest city. Anchored by a stunning performance from Temi Ami-Williams (This is my Desire [Eyimofe]), The Legend of the Vagabond Queen of Lagos is a work of blazing urgency.

Jawu (Ami-Williams) bears the mark of a warrior king but lives humbly, selling swallows at the local market, saving up for the better future she’s determined to build for herself and her son. The pair reside in the Agbojedo community, a floating slum planted in the lagoon that gives Lagos its name. Just as rumours begin circulating regarding government plans for new developments that would raze their homes, Jawu spies a corrupt politician (Adebowale Adedayo, also at the Festival in Freedom Way) burying a nest egg of cash. Struck by her good fortune, she takes the money for herself, thinking this might be her way out. Jawu doesn’t know that she is destined for a bigger battle that is yet to come.

The product of radical collaboration at every stage of development and production, The Legend of the Vagabond Queen of Lagos represents the culmination of a seven-year journey to expose the ways poverty is criminalized to excuse unjust police raids and the destruction of entire communities. Alternating in tone between terse thriller, documentary-like observation, and wondrous magical realism, this gorgeously rendered film is a vibrant portrait of people struggling to protect their community and the place they call home.

NATALEAH HUNTER-YOUNG

The Agbajowo Collective: James Tayler, Ogungbamila Temitope, Okechukwu Samuel, Mathew Cerf, Tina Edukpo, Bisola Akinmuyiwa, A.S. Elijah

Content advisory: depictions of suicide; violence, mature themes