AFTER three years of waiting and palpable uncertainty about it fate, CORDLIA, the latest filmic signature of ace filmmaker, Tunde Kelani (aka TK), is now ready for public release.
The film is billed to hit the cinema on July 18, according to the foremost filmmaker, who addressed a press conference on July 7 on the good news.
Stated Kelani, “After three years of hard work, resilience, and faith, Cordelia is finally ready for cinema audiences. This is not just the release of a film—it is the celebration of a journey. A journey that began with a powerful story on the page and comes alive on nationwide cinema distribution by FilmOne from July 18, 2025.”
Adapted from the novella of same title by the famous playwright, Femi Osofisan, Cordelia’s screen play is written by Bunmi Ajiboye, and directed and produced by Kelani, and excutive produced by Tayo Oladimeji and Kunle Adebiyi.
Continued Kelani, “Cordelia is a film about silence. About the unspoken damage of power, and the quiet suffering of those who live in the shadows of history. It is a political story, yes — but it is also deeply personal. It holds a mirror to the fractures in our society and the fragility within the family when truth is suppressed.”
The film stars a coterie of super performers in the Nigeria film circuit, such as: Omowunmi Dada (Cordelia)|William Benson (Adekunle)|Yvonne Jegede (Remi)|Keppy Ekpeyong (Colonel Nwanze)|Kelechi Udegbe (Major Kawale), and others.
Top on the crew list are: Femi Osofisan (Writer)|Bunmi Ajiboye (Screenplay)|Adekunle Adejuyigbe (Director of Photograph)|Bola Belo {Head of Production)|Tunde Kelani(Producer/Director)|Jide Bello (Associate Producer)|Seun Alli (Associate Producer. Kunle Adebiyi and Tayo Oladimeji are Executive Producers.
Giving the logline of the film in an earlier promo sheet for the project, Kelani wrote:
Amid the chaos of a violent campus uprising and a deceptive military coup, a disillusioned university professor shelters a wounded student—unaware she is the daughter of a wrongly accused coup puppet. As danger closes in, personal and national truths unravel, forcing him to choose between safety, justice, and his conscience.
Synopsis: When a military coup shakes Nigeria’s fragile democracy, university students erupt in protest— and Cordelia Nwanze-Peters, daughter of the man believed to have led the coup, is violently attacked.
Rescued by her friend Stella, she finds refuge with Professor Adekunle Benson, a weary academic trapped in a loveless marriage. As tensions rise, Adekunle protects Cordelia — unaware that the real coup was orchestrated by Major Kawale, who used Cordelia’s father, Colonel Nwanze, as a puppet. When the truth comes out, Nwanze escapes captivity and foils the coup, but Cordelia remains a target. Hunted by soldiers and betrayed by those closest to him, Adekunle must risk everything to shield Cordelia. In a powerful climax, Cordelia bravely faces her persecutor, and justice is restored. Cordelia is a gripping tale of courage, conscience, and redemption set against a nation in turmoil.
At the media parley hosted by City People magazine at its corporate headquarters in Lagos, Kelani, also director and producer of such eminent films as Saworoide, Thunderbolt, Agogo Ewo, White Handkerchief, Maami, Kosegbe, Sidi Ilujinle and others, stated:
“At the heart of Cordelia is a literary work by one of our greatest writers, Professor Femi Osofisan. His novel provided the foundation— a layered, compelling narrative that we were honoured to adapt for cinema. This is a reminder of the critical bond between African literature and African film.
“Our written stories — alongside oral traditions, folklore, and lived experiences — are part of our intangible heritage. When we adapt them to film, we are not just entertaining — we are preserving, interpreting, and passing on culture. This is what makes our cinema deeply authentic, and what sets African storytelling apart.
“…when power changes hands by force — when there is a military coup or a natural disaster caused by years of neglect — it is not the powerful who suffer first. It is the innocent. Ordinary families are torn apart. Children are displaced. Parents are silenced or disappeared. The people caught in the crossfire are those simply trying to live, to raise their families, and to survive. Cordelia gives voice to those quiet victims—the ones history books often forget.
“And one of the most moving aspects of this film—what binds it emotionally—is the music.
“The original score was composed by the talented Michael Ogunlade. But it reached new creative heights through a unique collaboration: the Music Department of the University of Delaware in the USA, under the leadership of Professor Anderson, arranged, orchestrated, and scored the film in a project titled “Cultural Fusion.”
On the context of the film as a template for cultural understanding, Kelani offers: “This collaboration between continents, between cultures, between traditions and techniques — represents exactly what Cordelia stands for. It is a creative dialogue. A meeting point between African stories and global craftsmanship. And it shows what is possible when we open our doors to collaboration while staying true to our roots.
“For me, Cordelia is not the end, but a new beginning—marking the start of a fresh chapter filled with entertaining, thought-provoking, and culturally grounded films that will continue to complement my decades-long journey in African cinema.”
Highlights of the film project are as follows:
Cordelia, an adaptation of Femi Osofisan’s novella of the same title, is a period drama set in Nigeria in the early 90s during the years of military rule.
The locale is a university campus where Professor Adekunle Benson, 40s, lives with his wife Remi and teaches at the Department of Political Science.
Adekunle meets Cordelia, a student, and is attracted to her because she reminds him of a younger version of his wife Remi when the going was still good between them.
Cordelia is the daughter of Colonel Nwanze Peters who is both Chief of Staff Supreme Headquarters (CSSHQ) and Second-in-Command to the Head of State, General Matthias Kalarima.
Nwanze Peters is the darling of the Press, having been tagged, ‘the reluctant leader’ because he refused the offer by coup plotters a year before to be Head of State, preferring to serve under Kalarima, a stance which made him and the military government popular with the people.
Colonel Nwanze Peters is implicated in a coup masterminded by Major Kawale who happens to be a brother to Cordelia’s fiancé, and the nation believes he has murdered his boss Kalarima and taken over the nation, leading to violent protests on the campus by the students.
Cordelia is assaulted by the students on campus because of her ties to Nwanze Peters and Adekunle is able to assist and get her out of harm’s way, only to fall into the hands of Kawale who kidnaps her as bait to force the Colonel’s hand.
Colonel Nwanze Peters rounds up the Army to foil the rebellion by Major Kawale and his accomplices and to rescue Cordelia, but first, having learned that Adekunle helped in saving Cordelia from the protesting students on campus, he sends him with a letter of truce to Kawale.
At the risk of his life, Adekunle delivers the letter, and the Army swoops in. The rebellion is quelled, Kawale is killed in the process, Cordelia is rescued, the army is victorious and the nation is returned again to normalcy.
Colonel Nwanze Peters, having been called upon by his colleagues in the ruling council to step in as Head of State, makes Adekunle an offer to be a Minister in his cabinet because he believes the country can use a man like him. But Adekunle turns down the offer, preferring to remain in the academia.
