Super Eagles ‘96 charts the thrilling journey of the Nigerian men’s football team at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta Georgia in 1996. Despite a backdrop of intense political and social unrest which had engulfed Nigeria for decades, the hope that the national football team offered, (fittingly nicknamed as the Super Eagles) helped unify a divided country in ways nobody had ever imagined.
Directed by Yemi Bamiro, a London-born film-maker of Nigerian heritage, the documentary tracks Nigeria’s progress under their coach Clemens Westerhof – known as the ‘Dutchgerian’ – on their journey to the 1994 World Cup before he was replaced by his compatriot Jo Bonfrère during a period of political instability under the country’s military dictatorship.
Halo provided full Picture and Sound Post Production.
Online Editor Adam Hall said “It was a pleasure to work with the team at Dorothy St Pictures on such an interesting project about a subject I had little knowledge about beforehand. Not being a football fan you would think would put me at a disadvantage – but it is much more than football. It’s a story that really draws you in and you feel as though you are on this journey with the team. The main challenge I faced, as with many archive-heavy shows, was to make sure the archive had no issues from a technical standpoint. We had various sources and different frame-rates to contend with, so making sure that they played smoothly, correctly and fit the shots around them was paramount.”
Director: Yemi Bamiro
Colourist: Paul Koren
Online Editor: Adam Hall
Sound team: Gerrit Swanepoel, Hannah Ratcliffe
Post Producer: Jess Netley-Verrinder
Sales Exec: Will Garbutt
Streaming on Amazon Prime from 17th February 2023.