Ace Nigerian filmmaker, Tunde Kelani, popularly known as TK, has distinguished himself in the industry with award-winning movies. In this interview by SEYI SOKOYA, the veteran filmmaker speaks on his works, life, among other issues.
You clocked 70th early this year, how do you feel being 70?
Yes. I clocked 70 in February and I am getting used to the new age. In fact, the celebration was similar to how my 50th birthday was celebrated; despite the fact that I said I won’t celebrate it people, including my family, and friends arranged a surprise birthday for me. The same thing happened during my 70th birthday. I never had the intention to throw a bash. I remember I travelled with Professor Soyinka to Haiti then, but a surprise also came outside the shore of the country. I felt so honoured, because Professor Wole Soyinka was the chairman at the surprised party. A lot of eminent Nigerians, including the Ogun and Lagos State governors still celebrated me when I returned. The industry also took up the responsibility to celebrate me. I remember the Centre for Black Culture in Osogbo, Osun State did a celebration and screened my latest film entitled: Sidi Ilu Jinle to mark my birthday. It was a one-week celebration and I felt honoured and I thank everyone that celebrated me.
Are you planning for your retirement, now that you are 70?
I am not thinking of retirement at all, because as you know, our work comes with responsibilities and risks. Even as a pioneer, we rely on the income of movie production; we don’t have retirement benefits. So, we have to continue working until we ‘drop’.
What is your assessment of the industry?
It is challenging, but we must not relent in our efforts to tackle obstacles as they come. We are lucky in Nigeria because we are hardworking, creative, and we have much cultural diversity. We have all the qualities to make us great in Africa. In fact, we still make things happen despite the lack of structure, social amenities, among other things. That is not enough to stop Nigerians; we have a spirit making things happen. I salute everybody in the industry. In spite of all the problems we encounter; we still manage to make the industry strong, though we are still struggling to build it in a way that it will be quite sustainable. Film making is a collaborative act in the sense that it is a gathering of experts such as designers, musicians, technical personnel, among others. It combines everything in the society. Don’t forget the audience too, the printing press, media, fashion designers, painters, carpenters, and caters. Nobody has been able to track and put a figure on the business that is associated with film-making. What people see is just the outcome of film productions. It takes diplomacy and intact cultural polices to stand tall in the game.
As a pioneer in the industry, what is the legacy you want to leave for the younger generation?
We are trying our best in impacting on the younger generation. My film academy is one of the platforms I have put in place. I started Mainframe Production with 22 people, around 1990 and 2000. The experience was challenging but, I have been able to impact lives with it from then till date.
The popular name of the industry, Nollywood, is not accepted by some experts and practitioners. How would you react to this, given your level of experience in the industry?
Well, I think we have passed that stage. Whether they like it or not, the name has come to stay. Though we were given that name by outsiders, which has caused several controversies, Nollywood has become such a quick reference to the totality of the Nigerian product. It has become a brand for all the stakeholders in the industry. Nollywood doesn’t really discriminate cultural diversities. For me, I see validity in the concept of Yoruba cinema or any indigenous languages like Hausa or Igbo cinemas. It is all about cultural expression. For instance, Japanese produce Japanese films, Germans have German films, and also Indians make Indian movies. Then there is validity in Yoruba cinema and it doesn’t have to be another wood, we have enough already.
For some of us as pioneers, it is ambiguous. For instance, some people celebrated Nollywood at 20 and they decided to give me an award, but I didn’t take it, because I have been working in the industry for the past 40 years. So, how can I accept such recognition? If anyone is to give an award, I should be the one giving them the award. Anyway, it doesn’t matter now, what is important about empowerment, especially with the fact that the industry is fast developing and the fact that I wear two hats now as a practitioner and the BoT Chairman of the National Films and Video Censor Board.
How has it been since you assumed the new office?
This gives the opportunity within the life of the board to do two things at my focus. Firstly, to embark on programmes that will benefit our country and to advance what it stands for Nigeria, and my second mission is to embark on programmes that will benefit the practitioners.
What are your aspirations in life now?
I still have a pile of films and if you notice my direction, I have done more adaptation from literature to cinema, perhaps in Africa. I have a lot of untouched books and don’t forget that we are facing challenges in the industry. Even films we’ve made two-three years ago have not been released, not only because of piracy threats; we have a lot of work to do to reform the distribution platform, market and at the same time, we have to respond to the evolving technologies in order to be relevant. We have to be ready to modify the way we used to work in response to the technology advancement which is coming at a fast speed. I am currently teaching my students at the Main Frame Academy, a course on cinematography in an emerging technology, because we have to follow trends if we want to be relevant.
You stand out in the industry, especially with your wealth of experience which has contributed to the growth of the sector. Do you think you are getting the deserved recognition?
I feel appreciative of the support of the audience, because they are the ones that made us what we are today. I feel so honoured because ordinarily, I’m not an actor and I am not glamorous in front of the camera, yet they found out that there is a producer behind that they think has consistently been giving them good and relevant films. However, I’m not surprise, because I have been very close to the culture and in that sense, my work still remains a dialogue between me the storyteller and the audience. This development has made me proud and appreciative. Importantly, I have always stressed the importance of language, culture and technology, which is where my focus stands.
Your works are mainly on culture. What informed your passion for this?
I became conscious about cultural diversities of Nigeria when I was very young. I was brought up in the Yoruba setting; a culture that is about 3000 years old with its entire intellectual base. We have not even appreciated the depth of the culture. My association with seasoned dramatis personnel such as Kola Ogunmola, Adeola Dipo, Hubert Ogunde and Oyin Aejobi, and a host of other great musicians, especially Yusuf Olatunji, Ayinla Omowura, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Ebenezer Obey, Sunny Ade, and Victor Olaiya, has been a great influence.
One cannot leave the culture after such an unbelievable influence and then writers such as Professor Soyinka; Akeem Ishola; Adebayo Faleti, Femi Osofisan; Bayo Adebowale, Chinua Achebe, and Cyprian Ekwensi among other experts. These are people I knew and I have worked with. My first production was going to be Cyprian Ekwensi’s Motherless Baby. I approached him in the 80s, that I wanted the right to produce that work. My first adaptation was Adebayo Faleti’s book entitled: The Dilemma of Father Michael; Idamu Paadi. For me, Nigeria, especially Yoruba land is a huge canvass in which you can tell thousands of stories; so, in other words, I have so many materials, talents, people and music. In music, for instance, I followed Fela, Orlando Julius, Akeem Kareem, Sir Victor Warrior, Birght Chimezie, Sunny Okosun; they are all my friends.
Some are of the opinion that your passion for culture has made you a traditionalist. How will you react to this?
I don’t know the term traditionalist they might be insinuating. What I do with culture is to tell contemporarily stories, and to talk about social and political relevance. Take a look at the conscience films such as, Kosegbe, Saworo Ide, Agogo Eewo, Campus Queen, and Arugba. They are almost the same themes, and I celebrate positive female characters too, all the women. That is what is most common in all these films, the characters are strong women. Basically, that is what I coincidentally found in Maami, and the Narrow Path. So, there is so much in the culture to do rather than follow the West blindly. The home should be our factory, because all our raw materials are within reach; all we need to do is to use technologies, to tell those stories and take it global.
Personally, I have not been doing enough, because I have not produced any film in the last four years. We have new films that we can’t release, so, I have not been working, though I have been trying to develop other platforms so that I can be working regularly and use all of that as an avenue to teach the younger generation. In fact, foreign experts that visit Nigeria are beginning to wonder why the noise about Nigeria, because they cannot find regular sports or entertainment activities even within states. So, there is no work, because we have not developed all those arrears that should have helped the industry. The percentage on infrastructure and content development is relatively low. The re-emergence of cinema has not got to an appropriate stage. 60 per cent of Nigerians are yet to have access to the cinema. The cinemas in Lagos are not enough; they are only in the elitist areas, not with the people in Alimosho, Ikorodu, Epe, and others. America has a total of 40,000 screens, while Nigeria has less than 100. There is no bases for comparison yet, but things can get better, because we are developing. Lagos State is building five theatres at the same time and that is a revolution and I am confident that others will take a cue from that.
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You have not responded since Baba Wande accused you of defrauding him of a certain percentage of the proceeds of the popular Ti Oluwa Ni Ile. Is your silence deliberate?
He was not accusing me; I think he was stating his own case and complaining about a project that happened over 20 years ago. I think he is not saying that I didn’t pay him; he is probably saying that the money was not enough. When I heard that, I asked the office to start dusting some papers and I think they found some vouchers, at least we are still looking for 2003 record. But, the vouchers they found already showed that he was paid over N300,000 that time. You know the film has a short lifespan and I cannot understand why Baba Wande keeps harassing me over something that happened more than 20 years ago. If he thinks that the films are selling as he thinks, I can give him the right to produce, if that would solve the problem.
It is painful that he didn’t even care whether we made our money from it or not. Even after all that experience, I took him to the Benin Republic to take part in Abeni and I always paid him whatever he demanded. Again, I invited him to play in Arugba. He doesn’t remember all those ones, but he can only remember bad things about me. In spite of the relative success of the Ti Oluwa Ni Ile project, he doesn’t seem to see anything good in it and in me. It is very strange. I think it is a deliberate effort to blackmail me. I think he is broke, but I am broke too; we are all broke and that is the reality. This is why I refused to reply him instantly, because it won’t be good for the Yoruba race. I don’t know who is older; he would be probably older than me, because I just turned 70. I don’t expect him to be saying all that on the pages of a newspaper. I cannot do that, because I will be insulting the institutions of our traditional rulers and all eminent Nigerians. I think it is a very simple case that can be resolved. He is also not bothered what I went through when all my works, including the films were pirated. I almost died when it happened. It pains me a lot anytime Baba Wande refers to that issue. I have various pirated copies of my works in my Lagos office. I would say that he is entitled to his opinion on the things he said about me. Meanwhile I have not said anything bad about him; not to talk of doing it in the public. There is nothing to settle; if people are interested, fine, not me. I have many challenges. I am pained because all my films have been pirated. He could not imagine what happened to me.
What do you think can put an end to the piracy in Nigeria?
It is left for our legislators to do the needful. We, the main stakeholders in the industry must collectively sanitise the Alaba International market, which has been polluted with piracy gangs.
What is your relationship with Kunle Afolayan?
He is my son; my adopted son. His father was one of my great mentors. He has an extra-ordinary talent, knowledge and idea; he likes taking everything global and is a thespian that has dignified himself in the industry and I am very proud of him.
At what point did you go to school abroad?
I was an apprentice at a photographer studio, owned by Dr Ogunbanjo and Associates, after completing my Secondary education. I was later employed at the Western Nigeria Television, there, I was trained, but my work was broadcast on small television stations, and I didn’t want that. I wanted a big cinema. So, I had the opportunity to go and study in the London Film School in 1976 and returned in 1978. I worked for about two years in the television station. I decided to be an independent filmmaker around 1980. I bought my first camera called Halina 35X camera for eight pounds; I can feel the experience I had then even now.
What is your advice for the younger generation?
The younger generation are luckier, because they are born digital natives, and what that means is that they have universities of life in the internet, if they take technology to positive use. They have greater chances to make it in life and invest their time and money in any course. In other words, with their smart phones and the internet, the world is in their palm.
and then