Hang Time - Synopsis
Kwame Achebe lives in the sprawling shantytown, Ingbu in Nigeria. He has remarkable skill at playing basketball and stands out as the best player in the local team- but he is the poorest and wears the shabbiest pair of trainers which jeopardise his performance. His ambition is to go to America to play basketball.
An American basketball scout is soon to arrive and Kwame wants to impress him in the hope of fulfilling his dream. Kwame is one of four children raised by their grandmother Monday Achebe. Their mother had died and their father was inclined to drinking binges and neglecting his responsibilities. Now the father is a reformed man and is working hard to send the family money and to buy Kwame a new pair of trainers for his birthday. Kwame discusses his dreams with sister Chiddy, who offers him strong support. Monday also sympathises but feels helpless when money from their father does not arrive.
Desperate to raise the US$100 needed for new shoes, Kwame becomes involved in illegal and dangerous activities, carried out under the instruction of his flashy gangster friend Olu. Monday is similarly anxious about purchasing shoes for Kwame and decides to sell the medal that his father, Babu won as a boxing champion. But the medal is only a replica and doesn't fetch enough money.
Kwame is involved in an armed road robbery resulting in the death of the victim. But the spoils of the incident include a brand new pair of top of the range Nikes - exactly Kwame's size. He is delighted- it's an amazing spot of luck! But the mystery is solved by the devastating news of who the victim of the robbery is and for whom he had bought the new shoes.
