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Left: Official Poster for ‘A Land Apart’. Right: Bem Pever, Filmmaker, Producer, and Director. |
On October 23, 2026, A Land Apart, directed by Bem Pever and written by Echobu Michael Garuba and Emil Garuba, arrives in cinemas. The film imagines an alternate Nigeria where agriculture, rather than oil, drives national wealth. It is an intriguing premise, and one that had me hooked from the moment I stumbled upon its announcement on Instagram.
I have watched Bem Pever’s 4th Republic and Maia, among other films, so I was already familiar with his work. But A Land Apart got me thinking about the filmmaker behind these stories. Who is Bem Pever? What experiences have shaped his approach to filmmaking? And what drives his commitment to telling Nigerian stories that challenge familiar narratives, explore new possibilities, and give emerging talent room to shine?
For this edition of People Like Us, I sat down with Bem to explore his journey from church and school dramas in Benue State to studying theatre arts, building a career in film, and pursuing his ambition to tell stories that travel beyond Nigeria.
Our conversation covered the lessons behind his early productions, the business of filmmaking, the importance of creative partnerships, his commitment to creating opportunities for new talent, and the woman whose strength continues to influence the female characters in his films.
Bem also shared his vision for Nigerian storytelling and why consistency remains his biggest achievement.
Here is the story of the filmmaker behind A Land Apart.
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Bem Pever, Filmmaker, Producer, and Director |
Bem grew up in Adikpo, Benue State, where his family, particularly his grandfather and mother, played significant roles in shaping the person he would become.
He lost his father while he was young, and his grandfather became a father figure. His grandfather was deeply involved in the church, and through him, Bem became immersed in church life. He attended Sunday School, participated in church activities, and eventually began organising and coordinating dramas. He was not simply showing up to act. He was making sure the performances happened and happened well. He enjoyed the process so much that he initially thought he would become an actor.
Then secondary school came, and the drama continued.
Bem headed his school's drama unit and took part in competitions against other schools. His team frequently came first, and people began to associate him with drama. By the time he finished secondary school, the interest that had started in church had grown significantly.
When it was time to pursue higher education, however, there were other expectations to consider. His family thought he might study a different course, but his uncle obtained an admission form for him to study theatre arts.
Looking back, Bem believes the decision set him on the right path.
His college experience introduced him to the professional demands of an art form he had previously encountered through church and school. After his college education, he knew he wanted more. He later proceeded to the University of Jos to study theatre arts, where the work became even more intense.
He described days that began before six in the morning and sometimes ended around midnight. “Students had to arrive on time, participate fully, and understand that theatre demanded considerable commitment.” He also encountered lecturers who introduced him to different aspects of the arts, including filmmaking, dramaturgy, and the creative process.
It was an education in discipline, but it also confirmed that he wanted to build a life around storytelling.
Bem still loves theatre and hopes to return to the stage someday. But film presented an opportunity that he could not ignore.
“I began to see that film travels easily. And I want my work to be seen easily around the world. Theatre can travel, but film goes wider.”
That stayed with me. Here was someone who loved the stage but was already thinking about how to take his stories beyond the people who could physically attend a performance. Film offered him the possibility of reaching audiences across cities, countries, and continents.
And so, the journey continued.
When Bem arrived in Abuja, he wanted practical experience in film production. He met filmmaker Sebari DS while she was working on a production and approached her because he wanted to work with her. It took some persistence, but she eventually gave him the opportunity he was looking for.
Working with her exposed him to the realities of filmmaking. He learned from different projects, built relationships, and gained the experience he needed before venturing out on his own.
And Sebari saw his tenacity. She gave him a project to handle, and finally, he had his first production where he could showcase his talent.
But…his first independent assignment was not exactly the success story one might expect.
Bem recalled that “almost everything that could go wrong on set went wrong. Managing the actors was a challenge. So was managing the crew, equipment, and locations.” Although they eventually produced a finished project, getting there was difficult.
It was a lesson he would carry into subsequent productions.
He later developed Strong Reasons, a faith-based short film about a young woman who grows up in a harsh environment and finds a path towards redemption. He worked with his friend and creative partner, Emil Garuba, who helped develop the screenplay. Bem produced and directed the film.
They took it to community screenings and worked with churches to reach audiences. They were not trying to make money from the project. They wanted to tell a story and get people to watch it.
This is where our conversation became particularly interesting to me because Shades of Us started from a similar place. We have made films, taken them into communities, and used them to encourage conversations around issues that affect people's lives. There is something fulfilling about seeing a story reach the people it was created for, but more than that, there is something beautiful about connecting with people who have had similar journeys with you.
But there is also the question of how long you can keep doing it without a sustainable financial model.
Bem eventually confronted that question himself.
“I love money,” he said, laughing as he explained the turning point in his career.
He had to think about his livelihood and his family. He could not continue making films without considering how they would generate income. He began reading books, conducting research, attending workshops and conferences, and asking people questions about the business of filmmaking. As he put it, he realised that there was a difference between making art for the sake of making art and building a business around it.
He began taking on paid production work, contributing to projects such as Sons of the Caliphate and Halita. These were not his personal films, but they gave him opportunities to work, earn, and continue developing his skills.
That experience helped him understand that filmmaking requires both creative ability and the capacity to manage the business behind the work.
It is a lesson that continues to shape his approach today.
The first time I watched 4th Republic, I was excited to see a woman contesting for the office of governor. That alone caught my attention. But as I watched the film, I became increasingly interested in how the story unfolded.
It was well-rounded, and it held my attention. I even reviewed it on our podcast. I also remember thinking about the fact that the film came from Abuja. There is a perception that the city does not have the same filmmaking capacity as Lagos, for example. But…here was a film that challenged that assumption.
I wanted to know what had driven Bem to make it the way he did. He explained that his team had worked on several socially conscious projects, often addressing issues such as violence against women and drug abuse. Over time, he became interested in finding ways to tell these stories without making audiences feel as though they were being lectured.
He wanted the message to emerge from the story itself.
For 4th Republic, the team researched electoral challenges in Nigeria. They then brought writers together for an intensive script development process, spending hours discussing the plot, developing characters, and working through the story until the different parts connected. They were deliberate about the actors, the crew, the cinematography, and post-production. They wanted to get the details right.
Listening to him explain the process helped me understand what I had responded to as a viewer. There was research behind the story, but there was also an understanding that audiences needed a reason to stay with it.
This matters to us at Shades of Us because we also use storytelling to address social issues. We know that having an important message does not automatically make a compelling film. The story has to work. The characters must feel real, and the audience must have a reason to care about what happens to them.
Bem has continued to explore this balance across different genres.
In Maia, he examines beliefs about curses and how they shape people's understanding of their lives. One of the characters draws inspiration from a woman he remembers from his community, who was known for making predictions about people's futures. He wanted to explore why people sometimes attribute their circumstances to curses rather than considering the role of their own decisions and actions.
Then there is Charlie and the Boys, which explores revenge, and Bloodbone, a horror film that grew from a conversation with a creative partner about telling an African vampire story.
I liked hearing him explain where these ideas came from. He does not approach every story from the same direction, nor does he want to limit himself to one genre. Ideas come to him at different times, and he writes them down. Some eventually make it to production; others remain on paper until the right opportunity comes along.
For Bem, there are many stories worth telling, and he wants room to tell them.
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This was the question that first drew me to A Land Apart.
Imagine an alternate Nigeria where agriculture drives national wealth. What happens to the people who inherit that world? How do they build power, negotiate relationships, and determine the future of an economy that develops differently from the one we know?
Bem explained that the idea came to him while he was lying in bed. He kept thinking about the question and gradually began connecting it to other ideas. One was the biblical story of Solomon and the question of inheritance. Another was Nigeria's agricultural potential, particularly the country's capacity to produce food and develop industries around it. This stayed with him longer because it is from the state considered to be the food basket of the nation: Benue. That potential is seen every day.
He began imagining what might have happened if oil had never become the country's dominant economic resource. What if agriculture had remained central? What if Nigerian food was available in major cities around the world in the same way that burgers and Chinese food are familiar to international audiences?
He wanted to explore the possibilities.
As he explained, food is connected to culture and everyday life. Agriculture also opens up opportunities in medicine, industrial production, trade, and other sectors. He believes Nigeria has the land and resources to contribute significantly to global food systems.
These ideas became part of the world he and his creative partner, Emil, began developing for A Land Apart.
The film also features a woman who is not expected to inherit one of Africa's largest conglomerates but finds herself at the centre of that inheritance. The story brings together questions of power, gender, agriculture, and the possibilities of an alternative Nigerian economy.
I was excited by the premise because it invited us to imagine a different version of our country. It also reminded me of the importance of allowing Nigerian filmmakers to explore original ideas and build worlds from our own experiences, histories, and possibilities.
When I asked whether audiences could expect a sequel, especially as agriculture is so multifaceted, Bem explained that there was no script yet. He sees A Land Apart as the beginning of a world that could support more stories, but he is taking the project one step at a time.
I will be watching to see where that world goes.
There is something I have noticed about Bem's films. Women frequently occupy central roles, including positions of power that our society does not always readily imagine for them.
After discussing A Land Apart, I wanted to understand why this was important to him. His answer took us back to his childhood and to his mother.
Bem comes from a family of six children. After his father died, his mother raised them while managing the home, the farm, and responsibilities that extended beyond her immediate family.
He remembers watching her carry these responsibilities without giving up. He spoke about how he now looks back at her life and wonders how she managed to do so much. She was raising children, maintaining a household, working on the farm, and supporting an extended family.
He saw her strength firsthand.
“I saw this strong woman who carried six children,” he explained, describing the woman who helped shape his understanding of what women could do. That experience stayed with him. It influenced how he thinks about women and the kinds of characters he creates.
When he develops a story, he sometimes places a woman in a role traditionally associated with men. In A Land Apart, for instance, the inheritance story draws on the biblical account of Solomon, but he reimagines the central character as a woman.
I was particularly interested in this because gender equality is central to the work we do at Shades of Us. We want to see women represented in all their complexity. They can be leaders, decision-makers, heroes, villains, and everything in between. Women are not a monolith, and their stories should reflect that.
Bem's explanation was personal rather than abstract. He had seen what a woman could do when his mother raised their family under difficult circumstances. That experience informed his imagination. He also believes society benefits when men and women bring their different strengths to the table.
And I could not help asking whether the woman at the centre of A Land Apart would be as wise as Solomon.
Bem assured me that she would be.
Now, that is something I want to see for myself.
One of the things I appreciate about Bem's approach is his interest in giving emerging talent opportunities to work on his productions.
For A Land Apart, he and his team decided they would not rely on a celebrity to play the lead role. They wanted an actor who could carry the story, regardless of whether audiences already knew her.
Finding that person took time.
They auditioned several actors and eventually returned to Mufida, whom they had previously encountered on a smaller project. She went through multiple rounds of auditions, taking feedback and returning to demonstrate her ability to handle the role. Bem wanted to see her talent, but he also wanted to know whether she could withstand the demands of a production in which the story would depend heavily on her performance.
She proved that she could.
When he spoke about this decision, he also reflected on the opportunities he had received from people who allowed him to learn and grow. He wants to extend that same opportunity to other actors and crew members.
He put it simply.
“Who is the next person to pull up?”
That question stayed with me because it captures a deliberate choice to look beyond the people who have already established themselves. The industry needs experienced professionals, and there are many in A Land Apart. But it also needs people willing to create room for new talent to develop.
His approach to collaboration follows a similar principle.
Bem works with creative partners, including Emil and Ishaya Bako, and he is clear about the value of bringing different strengths together.
“You cannot do this alone.”
He acknowledged that partnerships require trust and that not every partnership works. He has had to walk away from arrangements that were no longer serving the work. But he continues to believe that collaboration is essential to building strong productions.
I agree with him. Whether you are making a film, running a business, or building a social enterprise, knowing your strengths is only part of the process. You also need to recognise what other people bring and create room for those contributions.
Of course, filmmaking is not all creative conversations and exciting ideas. There is the money, the planning, the long hours, and the constant possibility that something will go wrong.
Bem had a particularly stressful story about the post-production of A Land Apart. The team had been working through the editing process when they discovered that they could not locate their footage. Even their backups were affected. They searched through hard drives, trying different approaches to recover the files. He described the experience as a difficult one, especially after the time and resources that had gone into developing and producing the film. Eventually, they recovered the footage. But the experience left them with hard drives containing multiple copies of the film and a much greater appreciation for the need to protect their work.
There were other challenges, too. The team spent weeks developing the script through intensive workshops. Production brought its own demands, including long days and the financial pressures that come with making a film.
Bem also recalled an incident in which a team member collapsed during the writing process. On another occasion, he fell asleep while driving home after a long production day and had an accident.
These are the parts of filmmaking that audiences may never see when they sit down to watch a finished film.
When I asked how he navigates the financial demands, particularly when working with an emerging lead actor, he explained that managing money is one of a producer's most important responsibilities. “You have to plan carefully, anticipate what could go wrong, and prepare alternatives. An actor's flight might be delayed. Equipment might fail. An unexpected expense might arise. You need to think through these possibilities before they happen.”
Even then, things can still go wrong.
“Producing is about solving problems continuously,” he explained.
It is a reminder that the work behind a film extends far beyond the creative process. The producer must keep the project moving, manage resources, and find solutions when the original plan no longer works.
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By the time we got to this question, I was curious about what Bem considered his greatest achievement. He has won awards, travelled multiple countries to promote his films, and continued building a body of work across different genres.
I expected him to mention one of those milestones.
Instead, he talked about consistency.
“When you find something that is important to you or something that you want to do, stay consistent with it and build it over the years.”
He believes that people sometimes abandon a path before they have given it enough time to grow. His approach has been to remain committed to filmmaking while allowing his work and experience to develop.
I appreciated that answer because consistency is easy to underestimate, particularly in a field where the returns are uncertain, and every new project brings fresh challenges. It takes time to build an audience, establish partnerships, develop a recognisable body of work, and create opportunities for others. There are no guarantees that the next film will be successful or that the money invested will return.
Yet Bem continues to make films. And he is still thinking about the stories he has not told.
When I asked about his hopes for the future, Bem returned to a subject that had come up throughout our conversation: how Nigerians see themselves and how the rest of the world sees us.
He wants to create stories that allow Nigerians to recognise their own strength and possibilities. He also wants international audiences to encounter Nigerian life through perspectives that challenge their existing assumptions.
His experience taking films to festivals has shown him that audiences are interested in seeing the worlds Nigerian filmmakers create. He believes the film industry can build the kind of international recognition that Nigerian music and fashion have achieved.
But there is still work to do.
He wants Nigerian filmmakers to keep improving their craft, developing original stories, and finding ways to share those stories with audiences around the world.
This is a vision that resonates deeply with our work at Shades of Us. We believe that who we are cannot be reduced to the assumptions people make about Nigeria or Africa. Our lives contain different experiences, ambitions, relationships, struggles, and possibilities. Our stories should reflect that breadth.
During our conversation, I shared an experience of meeting someone who immediately associated Nigeria with corruption. I explained that I did not need to pretend corruption does not exist. It does. But so do the many Nigerians who show up, do their work, create, build, and contribute to their communities.
We are not a monolith.
Bem's films contribute to the effort to tell a wider range of Nigerian stories. From political drama to horror, from faith-based films to an alternate Nigeria built around agriculture, his work explores different ideas about the people we are and the worlds we can imagine.
And I am particularly interested in seeing where A Land Apart takes us.
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Of course, we could not end the conversation without getting to know Bem beyond filmmaking.
His favourite meal is pounded yam and Pocho, a local dish from his home area, prepared with okra and dry fish. He also loves cereals and eats them regularly, much to the amusement of his wife.
His favourite film is 12 Angry Men, the black-and-white classic that unfolds largely in one room. He admires how the filmmakers keep audiences engaged through the performances and the development of the story. His favourite television series is 24, which he has watched repeatedly, even going back to find episodes from earlier seasons.
But the personal memory he shared that stayed with me was about his mother.
During his college days, Bem was broke and hungry. One day, someone came to tell him that his mother had arrived to see him. It was the first time she had visited him at college.
She came with food and other provisions.
He still remembers that moment.
I found it touching because, earlier in our conversation, he had spoken about the strength of his mother and how she influenced the women he creates in his films. Here was another memory of her, this time of a mother showing up for her child when he needed her, even when she didn’t know he did.
It was a reminder that the people who shape us often do so through the things they do when we least expect them.
My conversation with Bem Pever began with my curiosity about A Land Apart. I wanted to know more about the filmmaker behind a story that had caught my attention and the films that had already made an impression on me.
I came away understanding more about the experiences that shaped him, the work that goes into his productions, and the ideas that continue to drive him.
From the church dramas he organised as a child to the films he now takes to audiences beyond Nigeria, Bem has remained committed to storytelling. He has learned to approach filmmaking as both a creative practice and a business. He values collaboration, makes room for emerging talent, and draws on personal experiences to create characters and worlds that audiences can connect with.
There are still stories he wants to tell and new possibilities he wants to explore.
For now, A Land Apart is the next one.
And on October 23, 2026, my family and I will be heading to the cinema to watch it. I hope you will join us.
After all, if the story begins with the question of what Nigeria might have become if we had never discovered oil, I am curious to see where Bem and his team take that imagination.
See you at the cinema, my people!
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