For Oscar-nominated British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, starring in a
film about Nigeria's civil war was "incredibly personal", as the
conflict both affected close relatives and determined the country where
he was born.
His own grandfather had lived through the nightmare played out in "Half of a Yellow Sun", which premiers in Nigeria on Friday, and spent long hours years later recounting the painful memories to Ejiofor.
While the actor won his Academy Award nomination for "12 Years a Slave", 2014's Best Picture winner, he said he felt particular "connective tissue" with the lead character in the Nigerian war film.
The movie -- now showing in Britain and Australia and opening soon in the US and other countries -- is based on the best-selling novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie about the 1967-1970 Biafra War, which began after the eastern region tried to secede from newly independent Nigeria.
"The Biafra War was a seminal part of my upbringing and my family history," said Ejiofor, 36, the first black actor from Britain nominated for a Best Actor Oscar.
"In fact, I would say that the Biafra War was the reason I was born in London and not in Nigeria," he told journalists in Lagos earlier this month.
His parents, natives of eastern Nigeria, left the country after the horrific conflict that killed more than one million people, including many from starvation.
The war was a regular family discussion topic throughout his upbringing in London, but Ejiofor said he acquired a fuller understanding of the conflict during a visit to Nigeria six years ago.
His own grandfather had lived through the nightmare played out in "Half of a Yellow Sun", which premiers in Nigeria on Friday, and spent long hours years later recounting the painful memories to Ejiofor.
While the actor won his Academy Award nomination for "12 Years a Slave", 2014's Best Picture winner, he said he felt particular "connective tissue" with the lead character in the Nigerian war film.
The movie -- now showing in Britain and Australia and opening soon in the US and other countries -- is based on the best-selling novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie about the 1967-1970 Biafra War, which began after the eastern region tried to secede from newly independent Nigeria.
"The Biafra War was a seminal part of my upbringing and my family history," said Ejiofor, 36, the first black actor from Britain nominated for a Best Actor Oscar.
"In fact, I would say that the Biafra War was the reason I was born in London and not in Nigeria," he told journalists in Lagos earlier this month.
His parents, natives of eastern Nigeria, left the country after the horrific conflict that killed more than one million people, including many from starvation.
The war was a regular family discussion topic throughout his upbringing in London, but Ejiofor said he acquired a fuller understanding of the conflict during a visit to Nigeria six years ago.
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