Zwei menschen betreten eine Gebäude

Synopsis

DramaConsult is the name of an international consulting company which was invented for this documentary. That was necessary because the services that explore and evaluate the striking reality of German-Nigerian business relations through concrete case studies, are not yet available in the market.

Investing in Nigeria is the best kept secret in the world - says Dolapo Ajayi, a high-end real estate developer from Lagos and very much an insider in this business landscape. DramaConsult strives to disclose this secret - with the active support of Ajayi himself and two further protagonists from the Nigerian metropolis: Sam Aniama is an experienced spare parts dealer, specializing in Volkswagen and Mercedes. Femi Oladipo, good looking start-up entrepreneur, manufactures shoes for fashion addicted Nigerian customers. As supporting team, DramaConsult backs up the three entrepreneurs with two ambitious consultants: Biyi Olugbodi and Jude Fejokwu. A short briefing for all participants and off they go. Their mission: the acquisition of German business partners and investors. Denouement: open.

DramaConsult stages and documents the clash of two business cultures that couldn’t be more different. Yet the three entrepreneurs and their consultants are determined to make the best of their trip to Germany. They plunge into meetings with architects and shoe designers, encounter bankers in Frankfurt, frequent Berlin-based spare part dealers and a trading company in Hamburg with a 175-year long tradition of doing business with African countries. DramaConsult explores the terrain and discovers quite some surprises, from a Nigerian perspective. The relevance of varying national tastes in sneaker design, the legendary German timidity in taking risks, the difference in attitude towards domestic help and its consequences for modern architecture - or simply the importance of the right suit for right moment - dress to impress!

Dolapo Ajayi introduces his German partners to a community in dire need of housing, but so far only in possession of valuable land in Lagos. Who wants a good stew needs good ingredients - and those are costly, comments the Chief of the community as models for construction are negotiated. But how costly and how good should the ingredients be? And who ultimately decides what is social and sustainable housing, what is cheap or expensive?

DramaConsult is not a film about business, it is business on screen.

Credits

a film by Dorothee Wenner
in collaboration with the theatre project "Lagos Business Angels" by Rimini Protokoll

with Dolapo Ajayi, Sam Aniama, Jude Fejokwu, Femi Ladipo, Biyi Tunji-Olugbodi

and with Alhaji Chief Musa Olukayode Adedipe, Christian Wessels, Dazaa Aniama, Dago Engler, Verena von Beckerath & Tim Heide, Helmut Juschkat, Karl Domoracky, Hartmut Sieper, Dr. Albert Schander, Detlef Woermann & Steffen Grose, Julia Schumacher

Script | Director Dorothee Wenner
Director of Photography Bernd Meiners
Sound Pascal Capitolin
Montage Merle Kröger
Dramaturgy Merle Kröger, Philip Scheffner
Assistant Director Antonia Pössinger
Production Manager Anita Schenk
Location Manager Lagos Steph Ogundele
Music Philip Scheffner                                                   
Sound Design Karsten Höfer, Pascal Capitolin
Sound Mix Florian Marquardt
Image Mastering Matthias Behrens
Online Studio wave-line GmbH
Graphic Design Florian Göthner

Producers Merle Kröger, Philip Scheffner
Co-producers Marc André Schmachtel, Matthias Behrens
Commissioning Editors ZDF/ARTE Kathrin Brinkmann

Produced by pong film
In co-poproduction with Goethe Institut, ZDF, wave-line
In collaboration with ARTE
Funded by Medienboard Berlin Brandenburg

 

Visuals

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  • festivals

    World Premiere: FESPACO - Festival Panafricain du Cinéma de Ouagadougou 2013
    German Premiere: International Filmfest Emden 2013

    Other Festivals 2013 (selection):
    Durban International Film Festival
    Zanzibar International Film Festival
    Festicab Burundi
    Kerala Film Festival