The Interview Editors
Beautiful Nollywood actress Beverly Naya premiered her first documentary ‘Skin’ at the ninth edition of the iREP International Documentary Film Festival. She featured different celebrities like model and TV host Eku Edewor, social media sensation Bobrisky and veteran actress Hilda Dokubo, who talked about their challenges with their skin tones. Also featured in the documentary, Beverly displaced a rare side of her that is not usually seen on the screen. She opens up to The Interview in this chat.
Nollywood filmmakers are often tight-lipped about their budget but you seemed to be quite open about the cost of production for your debut film as a producer?
I announced the figure because I’m proud of what I was able to achieve with that amount. It makes this statement that with a bigger budget, I can do more. Considering the budget I had, I could only achieve a documentary.
Your documentary majorly borders on colourism and the bullying that one gets because of their skin tone. Have you ever been bullied for your skin tone?
I haven’t necessarily been targeted for my skin tone. I got bullied when I was young. For my dentition and some stupid things that children make fun of.
It affected me while growing up because I didn’t feel beautiful in anyway. So because I understood what I went through, my goal is to inspire and empower young people, to teach them about self-love and self-worth.
I was moved to tears for two reasons, finally it was happening and the main thing for me was to have a camera before me. It’s just you and the camera and you can be moved in ways that you don’t know
We saw a rare side of you in the documentary. You were very emotional. What made you so teary eyed?
I’m working on it. I’m naturally an emotional person. I can be moved by situations easily.
I don’t want to be the one that gets teary-eyed when talking about my struggles when I know in my heart that I have dealt with it.
But sometimes talking about it can make me feel like ‘I have really suffered.’
It is not a sign of weakness, it is a sign of strength but then in a society that classifies it wrongly, you have to be wary of that.
When you are emotional, people can go ‘be strong na’ while actually you are strong and not vulnerable.
We haven’t come to terms with that yet so I would rather have less tears. I’m naturally a happy person.
However, I was moved to tears for two reasons, finally it was happening and the main thing for me was to have a camera before me.
It’s just you and the camera and you can be moved in ways that you don’t know. It’s inevitable; it’s a very vulnerable space.
My first milestone was making it in Nollywood. I thought that was amazing. But then a new desire came and that was to become a producer. And now I’m on that path. There are so many things I want to do, I’m achieving everything I set out for myself and I’m very excited about it
In your eight years in the industry, how would you describe your craft?
I’m still evolving 100 per cent. I think that’s the beauty of my career in my opinion. I just feel like I’m growing at a steady rate.
Nothing is too quick, nothing is too slow. I’m constantly challenging myself. My first milestone was making it in Nollywood.
I thought that was amazing. But then a new desire came and that was to become a producer.
And now I’m on that path. There are so many things I want to do, I’m achieving everything I set out for myself and I’m very excited about it.
I have a degree in scriptwriting and directing.
But I’m too lazy to write a full-fledged script. It’s frustrating. Directing, you never know. Maybe in the future, but not on my radar.
