Exclusive: Akin Omotoso on directing Disney+ Film ‘Rise’ About NBA Players Giannis & Thanasis Antetokounmpo
Now playing on Disney+ is Rise, based on the triumphant real-life story about the remarkable family that produced the first trio of brothers to become NBA champions in the history of the league—Giannis and Thanasis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kostas Antetokounmpo.
Directed by Akin Omotoso from a script written by Arash Amel, the cast includes Newcomers Uche Agada and Ral Agada—also real-life brother who portray young Giannis and Thanasis, with Jaden Osimuwa and Elijah Sholanke as their other two brothers, Kostas and Alexandros, respectively. Dayo Okeniyi and Yetide Badaki play their parents, Charles and Veronica, with Manish Dayal as Giannis’ tenacious agent, Kevin Stefanides, and Taylor Nichols as John Hammond, general manager of the Milwaukee Bucks.
Audiences have never seen a story like that of the Antetokounmpos. After emigrating from Nigeria to Greece, Charles and Vera Antetokounmpo (Dayo Okeniyi and Yetide Badaki, respectively) struggled to survive and provide for their five children, while living under the daily threat of deportation. With their oldest son still in Nigeria with relatives, the couple were desperate to obtain Greek citizenship but found themselves undermined by a system that blocked them at every turn. When they weren’t selling items to tourists on the streets of Athens with the rest of the family, the brothers-- Giannis (Uche Agada) and Thanasis (Ral Agada)--would play basketball with a local youth team.
While he’s worked for over 20 years in the business as a director, South African native Akin Omotoso was a producer on Beyonce’s Black Is King movie. Among his film credits behind the screen was directing Tell Me Sweet Something, which netted him several accolades. He also had directed a documentary for NBA Africa on the organization’s relationship with the continent ahead of the first-ever exhibition game played there in 2015. The Alegeria-born filmmaker also directed the feature Vaya, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it was picked up by Netflix and distributed in the U.S. by Ava DuVernay’s Array.
Blackfilmandtv.com’s Wilson Morales caught up with Omotoso as he spoke about working with the cast and NBA players on creating this film.