Interview (Part 2): Vigil Chime (2017 Nicholl Winner)
My 6-part talk with the writer of the script “Bring Back Girl”.
Vigil Chime wrote the original screenplay “Bring Back Girl” which won a 2017 Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting. Recently, I had the opportunity to chat with Vigil about her background, her award-winning script, the craft of screenwriting, and what winning the Nicholl has meant to her.
Today in Part 2, Vigil and I dig into her award-winning script “Bring Back Girl”:
Scott: Let’s jump to your Nicholl‑winning script, “Bring Back Girl” which is a terrific read. Here’s a plot description:
“A 14‑year‑old girl kidnapped by human traffickers and sold as a child bride plots to escape, even as her father, a hunter, lets nothing stand in his way in his pursuit to recover her.”
First of all, you’re from Nigeria, so you’d be aware of the contemporary circumstances there, and I imagine this derives from the Boko Haram kidnapping.
Vigil: Yes. That is correct. When I prepared that logline for the Nicholl, it was a choice of mine not to put the word “Nigeria” or “Boko Haram” in it. At that time when I submitted it, I wasn’t sure whether, if I put “Nigeria” or “Boko Haram,” I wasn’t sure if it would have an adverse effect on how people responded to the script, so I just kept it vague as far “Nigeria.”
I wanted to give the story the greatest opportunity that I could, and so I did not put that in. But, yes, the story was inspired by the missing girls, the Chibok girls. That happened, the event of their kidnapping, in 2014, and then a whole bunch of other things that were happening in Nigeria that, as a Nigerian, I am aware of.
So I decided to open this particular film with Boko Haram, but it’s not about Boko Haram at all. I opened it with Boko Haram as a marketing choice. I thought that, if I started my film with Boko Haram and the kidnapping of the girls, the world already knows this story. The world knows this story.
There’s no explanation that needs to be done if you tell me that these girls were the “Bring Back Our Girls” hashtag campaign. That was the choice I made. But, as I do not know what happened to the girls, I did not want to focus my film, really, on them. I wanted to focus on the ones that escaped, because we know that some jumped off the truck that night.
I now said, “Let me throw my girl, Khalilah, let her be one of the escapees,” and so I did that. Once she jumped off, you can say the camera follows her rather than follow the trucks. You see?
Scott: Yeah.
Vigil: It was at that moment that I took my right turn. I said, “OK, the truck continues, but let’s follow this girl, and now I’ll visit upon her all the other problems that I wanted to address in Nigeria.” Those were the choices I made.
Scott: It’s an interesting choice because the protagonist, Khalilah, a 14‑year‑old Nigerian girl, even though she does escape and isn’t under the sway of the Boko Haram, she ends up in a situation which, in effect, is a kind of imprisonment because she is a…
Vigil: Child bride.
Scott: Yes, so you’re able to explore a similar experience, but not Boko Haram specifically.
Vigil: Even though the whole Boko Haram thing is important in the film, but physically, you don’t see them after page 10. However, they have this thing, they have this tone and aura about the whole region, the whole region is afraid of these people.
I don’t give them a name. I just say, “the devils.” I keep saying, “the devils,” “the devils.” I didn’t really give them a name (although I probably will later). I wanted the overarching tension that they embody. The whole village, everywhere, is aware that these people are running around just creating havoc.
Everybody is trying to protect their families and live the best way they know how. So they are the invisible enemy that makes everyone react against them, though you don’t see them anymore.
Scott: You’ve got this village where Khalilah lives and there is this chief who is essentially promising protection to the villagers.
Vigil: Yes, the girls are missing. See, what happened in Nigeria, at that time, when these children were taken was, it’s very embarrassing to the Nigerian government that they are not able to find these girls.
What they did was, in trying to find them, and, knowing that girls are being kidnapped, murders are being committed by Boko Haram, what the government did was it sent assistance. The president said, “We’re going to send soldiers up North. Soldiers have two aims, protect the innocent villagers as much as possible, but by all means, we’re still looking for these girls.”
Because these are farmers, they are mostly farmers, just trying to live their lives, that is why the Police Chief and his men are in this particular village, yes, to protect them.
Scott: Let’s talk about Khalilah’s family. She’s got two siblings, and a father, Boubakah?
Vigil: Just call him Bouba.
Scott: Bouba. The mother, Lidal?
Vigil: Correct.
Scott: He’s a hunter. She’s an herbalist. Khalilah is captured by Boko Haram, but manages to escape. Then, Bouba gets detained by the Chief. This is a weird situation. The people who are supposedly protecting the villagers, they actually extort money from the villagers.
Vigil: Yeah. You know, here’s the problem. There was some talk, these things are not fiction, ultimately. There’s a problem with the soldiers up there.
Yeah, they are there to protect on the one hand, but on the other hand, they’re actually harassing the villagers. They are trying to say things like these, “Well, we have all these men that live here,” because villagers are men, women, and children.
What they are trying to do, in trying to “locate” Boko Haram, sometimes they’re squeezing the men of these places. They’re just squeezing them, harassing them, beating them, asking them questions like, “You are part of Boko Haram?” “No, I’m not. I’m not part of Boko Haram.” “Yes, you are. Tell us where they’re going to go?”
On the one hand, they don’t know who is innocent and who is not. They came to protect, but they’re harassing, and part of harassment is extortion.
These are the things that are happening up there, or really, everywhere in Nigeria, just the whole bribery thing. Sorry to say, but it’s one of the more corrupt nations on Earth. So part of that corruption is anyone who has an edge, “Give me money, and I’ll make your life a little better.” That’s what you’re seeing.
Scott: That’s the theme that runs through the story. Everybody’s out looking for money and so, Boubaka gets detained by the Chief’s men. Now, his wife has got to raise money to get him free, but she doesn’t quite have enough, and so she agrees to hire out Khalilah as a maid for a month, but then, it goes terribly wrong.
Vigil: Yes, it goes terribly wrong.
Scott: One thing leads to another and she’s essentially lost. You make another interesting choice here because up to this point, the story has been told through Khalilah’s perspective. Once Boubaka discovers his daughter is gone, for about the next 15 pages, the story is told pretty much from his perspective. As a result, we’re left in the dark. We don’t know where Khalilah is.
Was that a conscious thread in your choice?
Vigil: That was absolutely a conscious choice. I thought about how to write this story. Before you started the story, you think, “How am I going to do this thing?” There’s things that I’m doing.
What I’m doing is this, I don’t really want you to know what happened to Khalilah, yet. I don’t want you to know. All we are moving on is a father’s love. “Yes, I was apprehended. I’m OK now. Yes, my daughter had to be taken to be a maid,” Really a nanny, a live‑in nanny, “OK, but I’m OK now. We don’t have money, but I have one thing, which is my gun. I will sell it to get the money to go get her.”
We are just following the dad. At that moment, you have no idea that anything untoward has happened to Khalilah. You’re just following Daddy, “To go get my daughter.” Then, of course, once he hits Abuja, things are not quite what they seem, and things continue to be quite not what they seem.
Then I tried to do something with time. I’ve heard from readers, some people like what I do with time. Other people would prefer it went in a linear fashion, swing between father and daughter. I really don’t want that. I did not want you to know that this child is in harm’s way until the camera comes on her. You see?
The father is feeling something is wrong because he is not finding the kid. And at the point, I want the audience to be tense as well, like, “Wait, I thought she’s supposed to be at somebody’s house taking care of their kids. Are you telling me that this child is lost?”
That’s right. Something is wrong. Then the tension for the audience begins. Something is wrong. Our Khalilah, who we love because this girl is wonderful, and the family is beautiful and wonderful and full of love.
Yes, I made a conscious decision not to present two parallel tracks, swinging between the father and the daughter. I didn’t want that for this story. I really don’t want you to know what happened to Khalilah until I need you to know what happened to Khalilah. That was the reason I did that.
Tomorrow in Part 3, Vigil and I continue to explore her award-winning script “Bring Back Girls”.
For Part 1 of the interview, go here.
Vigil is repped by Elevate Entertainment.
For my interviews with 27 other Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting writers, go here.
For my interviews with 53 Black List writers, go here.
