Documentary series · 2024
Salt and Signal
Four episodes on the creek communities who keep phones, schools and clinics running by boat.
Read the case studyFeature film · 2025
The Ferryman's Daughter
A boat pilot on the Warri River keeps one secret from the daughter who wants to leave.
Ember Originals with Okere Pictures
Credits
- Director
- Oghenekaro Edewor
- Producer
- Tuoyo Ayomike
- Director of photography
- Ejiro Okpako
- Editor
- Ufuoma Erhire
- Cast
- Example cast of 34 speaking roles
- Running time
- 104 minutes
- Languages
- English, Urhobo, Pidgin, subtitled
Example details for this demo.
The story of the shoot
Thirty-one days, nine of them on water
The Ferryman’s Daughter follows Avwerosuo, who pilots a passenger boat between Warri and the creek villages, and the daughter who has won a place at a university in Lagos he cannot afford. It is our first feature as an Ember Original, made with Okere Pictures.
We built the ferry cabin on Stage One so the dialogue scenes could be lit and recorded cleanly, then took two boats and a marine pilot out for the travelling shots. Every water day had a weather call at 5am and a rule: if the river turned, we turned with it.
The film was graded for a warm, low sun look we call Delta gold, and mixed in 5.1 for its festival run.
31
Shoot days
9
Days on the water
34
Speaking roles cast locally
11
Weeks in post-production
Stills
Frames from the shoot
Select a still to open it larger.
Behind the scenes
How it came together
Treatment
Two years of drafts
The script went through eleven drafts with a writers’ room of four, and two table reads in Effurun.
Pre-production
Boats, permits and a cabin
We secured river permits, built the cabin set and rehearsed water safety with every cast member.
Shoot
Thirty-one days
Twenty-two stage and land days, nine water days, one lost to rain and made up at the end.
Post
Delta gold
Eleven weeks of edit, grade and a 5.1 mix, with subtitles in English for the Urhobo and Pidgin scenes.
Avwerosuo’s boat became our office for a month. The crew treated the river like a cast member: we listened to it every morning.
Good to know
Questions about this production
Is the film available to watch?
It is on its festival run until the end of 2026. Private screening links are available for prospective clients and partners.
Did you build the boat set yourselves?
Yes. Our art department built the cabin in nine days on Stage One. It is now part of our standing set list and can be hired.
How did you keep cast safe on water?
A marine pilot, life jackets on everyone, a safety boat and no water scenes after 4pm.
Next set-up
Want this kind of film?
Start an enquiry with the budget range you have in mind and mention this production. We will say honestly what changes at your number.