Tunde Kelani
21 April 2005
opinion
Lagos — Being excerpts from the text of paper presented by Kelani at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Texas, USA recently.
Recently (17th January 2005), the South-West (of Nigeria) celebrated 50 years of the introduction of free education in the zone by the late Western Region Premier Chief Obafemi Awolowo. On that day, more than half a century ago, over 400,000 poor children went to school for the first time. This single event is significant to me because I was among those fortunate children who benefited from the revolutionary programme introduced in that part of our country.
Born in Lagos, in 1948, my father had sent me back to my grandfather at Abeokuta when I was five years old in preparation for my schooling. I can remember my first day at school with my friends in our khaki uniforms when we reported at the Oke Ona United Primary School in 1955. What is more significant is that we were the first set of Awolowo children to enjoy free primary school education; an innovation in those days. My first day at school was disastrous because my grandfather had decorated my pocket with a three-penny coin, which unknown to me then, was never meant to be spent. And what seven year-old could resist the aroma of fried stew and our local Ofada rice? I could not understand why my grandfather was so upset and why he shouted so much when he found that the coin had disappeared. After all, the meal should have been free along with the education.
The direct benefit of the programme was apparent only three or four years later. I was already able to read and write in Yoruba. I was delighted to find myself useful not only to my grandfather but to our community. I became an official letter writer and also read D.O.Fagunwa's tales to my grandfather with a hurricane lantern or an oil lamp. I was so fortunate to have discovered Yoruba literature at an early age and living in the community exposed me to Yoruba's way of life embracing its music, theatre, literature and philosophy. I took active part in most of our traditional ceremonies. Thus I was imbued with a cultural grounding that is necessary for any artiste to find a "sense of self" from which his creative voice emerges.
I had decided to be a photographer by the time I completed my secondary school education at the Abeokuta Grammar School. It made sense to me because I had already invested a lot of time and money on student photography and it would be wasteful if I did not pursue a career in that direction. I returned to Lagos to be apprenticed by Dotun Okubanjo who, I read in a Daily Times newspaper article, had organised a photographic exhibition in London that was opened by our Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. Armed with this information, I was confident I could convince anyone who still believed that photographers were school dropouts at that time when it was more honourable to be doctors and lawyers. After almost a year of photographic apprenticeship, I was convinced that my photography would be more powerful if they could move and talk. I had seen it all in the American films at the cinemas. Films like Lawrence of Arabia, The Ten Commandments, Sparctacus, Cleopatra, The Guns of Navarone, The Last Days of Pompeii, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and many other great films had cemented the relationship.
I headed for Ibadan, South West of Nigeria to be trained as a film cameraman at the former Western Nigeria Television (WNTV/WNBS). It would appear as if the designers of the free primary education gave great thoughts to other programmes as well by establishing the first television station in Africa. This was where I wanted to spend the rest of my life. Ibadan was not only the capital of the region, it was also the capital of entertainment and creativity. Ibadan gave me the opportunity to meet great highlife musicians and the traditional travelling theatre artists who had toured the country with stage plays and had also found a new home in television. I also pleasantly discovered the Oshogbo artists who regularly exhibited their works in Germany. I was bold to ask the director of the German Cultural Centre in Lagos why they supported the Oshogbo artists all that time and he had replied it was because they worked "in quality."
I never forgot this answer because later when I attended the London Film School, my consultant, Bill Oxley had simply recommended that I should to go to the National Arts Gallery in London to see a painting everyday. So, everything is in the paintings. Artists are among the group of talented people who work in QUALITY. Somehow I had suddenly discovered a "secret connection" that would profoundly enhance my view of artistic expression - and let me pass that on right away at no extra charge : great Filmmakers have always drawn inspiration from great artists to help create great images.
Motion picture is generally recognised as the most powerful tool for impacting the human mind. If properly unleashed, the cinema is less an event as it is an "experience" that commands an intellectual and emotional response from its audience. In the course of my development, the dynamics of the Yoruba cultural experience simply had to find expression in a personalised sort of way for me.
That is why I actually believe my adoption of the art of motion picture must therefore not be a matter of chance but of choice.
The art form chose me because it simply lends itself best to what I consider my life mission - the documentation of a Yoruba culture so unique and vast in its essence.
Motion picture was introduced to Nigeria in colonial times as a means of mobilising Nigerians, being part of the British Commonwealth to contribute to the achievement of objectives of the British empire. Later on however, with the introduction of Television broadcasting to Africa in 1959 by the then Government of the Western Region of Nigeria, Nigerians had their first experience in the production of motion picture. Hence, by the early 1970s, Nigeria filmmakers were beginning to try their hands on the art of filmmaking.
The early efforts in filmmaking came mainly from the practitioners of traditional Yoruba theatre who had been influenced by western forms of theatre and were beginning to experiment with Christian plays on stage rather than in the traditional village square. Having taken its cue from Yoruba traditional theatre therefore, it is not surprising that Nigerian films today still incorporate a lot of theatrical idioms.
The success of the early films served as great spur for many other aspirant filmmakers from the Yoruba traditional theatre movement as well as other artists like Wole Soyinka who had had formal training in other theatre traditions.
Unfortunately, due to the effects military dictatorship in governance and the introduction of structural adjustment programme and the down turn of the Nigerian economy, by the end of the 1980s, it was becoming increasingly difficult for Nigerian filmmakers to afford their art. Many of Nigeria's trained filmmakers were therefore stuck in government bureaucracy, working as government propagandists in ministries of information.
The advent of video however, brought some respite to a few filmmakers. While many still wait till today for the day when they will be able to afford film stock, a few like myself decided to take advantage of whatever opportunities video technology could offer. I hold the position that we filmmakers have a responsibility to document our contemporary history, and we would have no excuse not to do so. A creed that I learnt at the London International Film School is that a filmmaker is trained to make films not excuses.
Today, advances in digital technology are beginning to blur some of the dividing lines existing between celluloid and video. Because I was aware of the limitations of analogue video, I continued to quest for a more appropriate and more affordable medium for filmmaking. Hence, I followed the various developments in digital technology with keen interest and took careful note of their effects the video medium. Due to these advances, it is now quite possible to talk confidently about digital filmmaking without introducing the 'snubbed' notion of video and I have taken full advantage of this development to play my self appointed role of documenting Nigeria's contemporary history to the best of my ability. In fairness to many of my colleagues who refused to work in video, had digital technology not delivered some of the new and exciting possibilities in filmmaking, Nigeria might as well have kissed the art of filmmaking goodbye.
Now we have an appropriate and widely available technology for filmmaking, but unfortunately many of Nigeria's trained filmmakers have been left behind by these technological developments. Yet the audience is questing for films that express their reality. They are longing for films that they can understand and can relate to, films that fulfil their fantasies and spur their aspirations.
The Nigerian film audience does watch Hollywood but the realities that surround them constantly remind them that there are alternative worldviews based on their own indigenous knowledge systems, their beliefs, and hopes. Unfortunately, because enough films that express these realities are not being made and the technology is available, the audience is beginning to adopt a DIY approach. Hence, the logic behind Nigerians making 1000 films in one year, to my mind is that it is the disappointed audience that is making these films.
Why do I say this? Most of the people that make Nigerian videos do not have any training whatsoever in filmmaking, neither in the art nor the techniques. Even the related arts such as literature, painting, sculpture or even acting have not been well reflected with any level of structure in these films. Yet we Nigerians love our films because they portray our familiar instincts even if in the form of a caricature.
It is noteworthy, but really sad that despite Nigeria's internationally recognised literary prowess, extremely few if any significant collection of these Nigerian films are adapted from works of Nigeria's literary artists.
In the light of the foregoing therefore, can we say that Nigerian cinema is a reflection of the present-day realities of Nigerian politics and society? I think we have to answer both no and yes. No first of all because despite its high output in terms of numbers, Nigerian cinema has not been able capture present day realities of Nigerian politics and society with sufficient artistic dexterity, aesthetic insight and didactic intention. The overbearing commercial motivation that drives the industry does not provide sufficient artistic latitude for the appropriate level of artistic sophistication. Hence soft pornography, unfounded ritualism, magic, warped historicity, groundless violence as well as Hollywood type fantasy are known to have been employed in Nigerian cinema as a means for cheap and high turn-over entertainment.
It is with this background that I have chosen to focus my filmmaking career on the need to document our history, celebrate our rich cultural heritage as well as provide a visual bridge for the present and coming generations of Nigerian and thereby offer my films as a control mechanism for the political and economic engineers of our society in the present and for the future.
The clips selected from my films to provide some illustrations are nothing more than images. Images of where I come from not just geographically but spiritually and psychologically.
Sadly and hardly surprising, all my work from my television days, and the earlier Nigerian films shot on traditional celluloid films, spanning more than twenty years have disappeared. I have no access to these films because we no longer have the structures supporting the medium. I am aware that Nigerian films are scattered presently in film laboratories and archives in Europe and America.
On my part, the socio-political bent in most of the works is neither conscious nor deliberate. It is almost impossible to ignore some of the issues confronting a developing nation struggling to enshrine democracy and eliminate social ills like corruption. It is also important to preserve and promote one's cultural values in a rapidly expanding global community. And against the backdrop of health issues like HIV/AIDS, malaria, infant and maternal mortality, it would be almost irresponsible to focus on material that does nothing to address these concerns. It is my opinion that the African filmmaker cannot afford the luxury of making his movies based solely on commercial considerations. It is also my opinion that the artistic and cultural value of these films is further enhanced, not reduced when the socio-cultural question is addressed.
In conclusion therefore, in answering the question "Is the Nigerian Cinema A Reflection Of Present-Day Economic Realities?"
I say a clear and resounding YES.
But then, shouldn't that be the case for every filmmaking country in the world?
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