Nigeria / 2001 / 105mins / Drama / English, Igbo and Yoruba

Thunderbolt is woven around Ngozi, a young elegant Igbo lady and Yinka a young man of Yoruba origin who meet and fall in love during the National Youth Service. Their eventual marriage, against folk wisdom, soon develops problems fueled by rumors of extra-marital affairs which destroy trust between a devoted Ngozi and a jealous Yinka. In the ensuing drama Ngozi is laced with “Magun”, the mysterious and fatal chastity control (Magun) which will make her sexual victim die instantly after sexual intercourse.

Tunde Kelani

Tunde Kelani, born in February 1948, popularly known as TK, is a Nigerian filmmaker, storyteller, director, photographer, cinematographer and producer. He was introduced to Yoruba literature from an early stage in his life and was also greatly influenced by theatre as the Yorubas had a very strong traveling theatre tradition. He holds a diploma in the Art and Technique of Filmmaking from the London International Film School. In the 1970s, Kelani worked as a BBC TV and Reuters correspondent, and in Nigerian TV. After working many years in the Nigerian film industry as a cinematographer, he founded Mainframe Film & Television Productions, a company formed to document Nigeria’s rich culture. Some of his most successful films are literary adaptations and they include: Koseegbe, Oleku, Thunderbolt (Magun), The White Handkerchief, The Narrow Path, Maami and more recently Dazzling Mirage. He maintains this model for films. Learn More