My goal is to make disruptive movies, win Oscars — Ibrahim Bashir

Ibrahim Bashir’s new movie, ‘Four Lions’, according to him, will revolutionise the presentation of local movies, especially in the Yoruba industry. In a recent interview by ROTIMI IGE, he spoke on his experience in Nollywood and why he is sold to making disruptive movies.

Your latest project ‘Four Lions’ dwells on the negative effects of cultism on society. was it inspired by your personal story or that of someone you know?

The story ‘Four Lions’ was inspired by some individuals who are close to me, who had experienced some sort of cult activities while in school. Of course, I wouldn’t mention their names but I picked from different stories and experiences that I heard from them, I didn’t have the experience personally while I was in the university but their stories were quite touching as they face some form of violence in school and being an actor for years and a movie maker, I felt the need to educate people and let people see the negative side of cultism; the effect it has on the family and the society at large. I put the movie together to let people know that cultism is not good, cultism is bad, and there is no benefit. Those involved can mask it, make it look good to our kids, and of course, let people know that they need to protect their kids when they send them to school and ensure they follow up with them. That’s how the story came, different ideas from different people.

What were your most notable experiences while making the movie?

Well, as you know, making movies in Nigeria is not easy. We thank God that we are able to manage the production cost by getting money to meet our budget, and of course, there are also Location issues trying to ensure we get the right casts, in fact, I contacted some people but one way or the other they couldn’t make it so we had to replace them and of course when we get to locations some people always feel entitled, should I call them thugs, I’m looking for the right words, they get to your location and they request for some sort of payment for you to film at the location. We had a lot of that which i feel it’s a normal thing and then post-production where you have a lot of back and forth till we got here, where we are. I won’t really say they are the only major challenges but I give glory to God that we are able to succumb all of them and get to the end of this production till we have the final product. I give glory to God.

Nigerians have criticised some cinema movies, which they believed were not up to standard. In what ways did you make sure that the movie will be enjoyed by people across Nigeria and outside?

Well, the movie industry and the ever-changing ecosystem have had a lot of influences from popular countries that produce movies, Hollywood, Bollywood, and all that, our films are really developing. You would agree with me that we’ve moved into different phases and in the phase, we are in now I will say our movies are doing better, our movies are telling African stories, telling our stories, more original, our movies are taking over even the big platforms abroad I will not mention names but experts are coming in to partner with filmmakers here to create original stories, original content for their platform, so we are doing well, we are not doing bad and yes for the cinema audience, that is a different market, movie makers need to understand what the cinema wants at a particular time and also ensure that the movie is up to standard but for a movie to be up to the standard they are challenges like finance, getting the right hand, getting the right casts, the right story and all that. It’s a phase, we are getting there, we are getting better as you can see the calibre of movies that goes on streaming platforms and the cinemas, you can see the quality, we have really improved. Coming back from let’s say 2010, 2012 to now, you can really see the changes and it can only get better. Nigerians should watch out and encourage us, they should see the good that we have been able to achieve and they should encourage us, that is all we need.

How do you intend to rightly position yourself in the industry, particularly because there are many new and talented actors and filmmakers out there?

The industry is a very big one, there is enough space for everyone to flourish, everyone to grow, we are not competing, we are just helping each other to get better, and of course, as a talent, it is important that one understands that growth is a continuous element, it continues so I cannot just sit down and just lay back, I keep pushing, keep improving, there are courses I even want to go for to improve my skill and there are people I look up to whom I call my mentors, they have helped me, kept pushing me, helping me to become better and I give God the glory because when I look back I see that I have moved from point A to point B. Like I said it is a career that I have decided to stay in, a career that will put food on my table so I keep pushing, I keep moving, I keep partnering because I know partnership helps to improve the quality of the content you can deliver. I can only hope for better years.

What challenges do you face at this stage of your career?

I look back and I say have I really had challenges, I will say maybe getting good jobs, getting the kind of jobs that I want, at this stage, I cannot be selective so when I see some jobs I want to work, I want to get my face out there and the more jobs you do, the more recognition you get as you can never be so sure of which job will become so big when you get those scripts and they call you for a role. Right now, I am still paying my dues and will continue paying them as I move forward and move towards the top. I won’t say there are challenges because for me it’s fun and I am enjoying what I do which I think is important that people enjoy what they do. I am enjoying it, having fun and at the same time putting food on my table.

What changes will you like to see in the movie industry?

A lot of hardwork goes into content creation, Like I said, I see improvement, I see improvement in the type of content we are delivering, the packaging, the quality, and the value in the content and I look forward to seeing our movies begin to compete favourably, it seems like a dream that cannot be achieved but I pray, wish and want to see that possible where we can see Hollywood and Bollywood freely coming to Nollywood to work with us and also see possibility where these platforms when there are licensing and valuing our content there is this kind of disparity in the price range, I want to see that we also get to a level where our films also have good recognition as they do, and of course, it will be a piece of really good news for a Nigerian movie winning the Oscars. Again for Nigeria in particular, for Nollywood, there is this divide I see between English films and Yoruba films. A film for me transcends language barriers, I mean we watch Korean movies and we watch it passionately and they speak Korean all the way, we watch Chinese movies and they speak Chinese all the way and Nigerians watch them very well, I remember those days when we used to go video clubs to rent Chinese films and they speak Chinese subtitled in English, so why see a Yoruba film or a Hausa film and segregate it saying it’s a Hausa, A film is a film as long as you can watch and understand by reading the subtitle and it passes across a message. So don’t let us begin to stereotype films into a particular section, segment, or region, no it’s a film, it communicates and that is what is important. I would like to see that togetherness within our film circle, Thank You.

Tell us a bit about your background and early memories of family life while growing up.

Well, growing up was fun, I come from a very close mid family, we play together, have fun together, my father is from Ibadan, Oyo State Nigeria. I was born and raised in Iwaya, Yaba, Lagos State, in fact I still live there till now, it has been home for many years and I love the place. It is a very nice local community. I attended Fazliomar primary and Fazliomar secondary school in Lagos State and I am currently a student of the University of Lagos, Akoka, the greatest university in Nigeria. I plan to further to get a high degree, maybe someday I will become a doctor.

What influenced your decision to join Nollywood?

Those days when I was young I used to watch home videos, I love the way those stars were looked at and loved, so I said to myself one of those days when I was watching those movies I think I will love to do this, that was my first line of thought, what came to my mind, I started trying it out, sometimes I will face the mirror and act to myself, I practice, rehearse, demonstrate on a role of a particular actor and I enjoy it a lot. As I started getting close to some actors, I try to get information, about what can I do to improve myself, and what can I do to join the industry. I looked up to people like Saheed Balogun, Ibrahim Chatta, Taiwo Hassan, and Ronke Odusanya, they are people I saw doing well and I also want to do this, try the big screen and of course, while joining I started seeing that there are other things to it and I also found out that the Nollywood industry can change the mind of the society, I started researching what exactly I could do and that brought me to the line of making films.

In 12 months you have two movies to your credit, what motivates you to make movies?

I mean, daily interactions with friends, families, and loved ones, daily experiences, as a producer and a scriptwriter, these things go through my mind, when I hear someone’s story I get inspired so I have different types of stories formed right in my head from people experience especially if it’s a good story, this would at the end of the day be able to bring a particular moral that show people that this is bad, this is good, this will have some sort of positive influence on the society. There are just so many stories that keep coming into my head and I said to myself let me try and see if I can pull resources if I get this movie out what benefit will it add to society as well I am always inspired to do better, to do great things and it is a learning curve for me, in getting better by the day and the more works I do the better I believe I will become.

The industry is not without challenges. Which have you experienced and what do you wish to change in the Yoruba movie industry?

Well, for me, I have always said that the movie industry is the movie industry, when you begin to sectionalize a say, there is a Yoruba industry, there is the Hausa industry, yes, it’s good but movie connects across it not restricted by the language barrier. If as Nigerians we could watch Indian and Chinese films, and there are not even speaking any English but we watch it comfortably and go to the cinemas to watch them, we stream them and love their stories. Why can’t we also do that with our films, I will say it is the movie industry in total, what are the challenges in the movie industry, rather than just say the Yoruba industry? If I say from the Yoruba industry, I will say the fact that we have good stories but we just don’t have the right funding to produce them and it can be very difficult, the availability of the market for distribution of this content, I feel we can do better, most content go on YouTube but there so many other places we can take them to. There is a source that Yoruba movies are doing well in the Caribbean, it doeswell there, and they love them. Really, I haven’t had challenges in the industry, the older actors are always supportive and I give God the glory for that.

Tell us the inspiration behind your latest movie?

Four lions my latest film is coming to the cinema and will be showing from October 7th, the story is a powerful one, quite touching to me, very dare to my heart and I thank God for his grace and the support of everyone that ensures this movie was done. It’s quite daring to me though it’s not personal, it tells the story of different people from different perspectives and different experiences of people I’ve heard, we put it together and then make this and make this particular film and for me, the take-home is that everyone can watch this film and see for themselves that cultism is bad, there is no benefit, people come from tertiary institution to lure you they try to give you certain benefits but at the end of the day the repercussions are of subclassed benefits, it’s a very terrible thing, we should shun cultism, shun it in all aspect and for people to pay attention to their children when they go to school not to abandon them that because they are not in the tertiary institution they are now big boys and big girls, they need to monitor them, keep close contacts. That’s it for me.

With streaming platforms, stakeholders can earn more. How are you harnessing these platforms for your movies?

Well, I’m still growing in the industry so I will say I am getting better, film making is a business even though we put smiles on people’s faces, give them good content and of course, share some moral values we also expect to recoup from the production, there are a lot of platforms available, not all of them are friendly to Yoruba content, there is this stereotype, people look at Yoruba movie and say they are not of value, not up to standard, we are doing fine and better, look at the likes of ‘King of Thieves’ produces by Femi Adebayo, look at how it broke the box office, look at Kunle Afolayan’s movie Anikulapo, they are doing well, people are embracing culture, embracing our kind of films, we just need more platforms, of course, we reach out to them and they are also helping to up our standard and values in production. Yeah, we have been reaching out to them trying to ensure we get our films there because the more we get our films on these platforms the more people see them, and the better our income.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

In the next five years, I want to be a known African great producer, and Africa’s best actor, I’m putting a lot of work to ensure that I will be the best within the resources I have, and I also strive beyond my limit sometimes, I pray and I hope that my dreams come true. Maybe win an Oscar too if God permits, I hear that the Oscar is quite competitive. May God help us.