Emmanuel Ikubese broke into the entertainment scene as a model but has over time proven to be one of the most sort after actors in Nollywood. The founder of project R.A.W, speaks with ADENIYI ADEWOYIN about his new television series Kyaddala, a pan African movie shot in Kenya which tells the Africa’s story. Excerpt…
WHAT have you been doing lately?
Lately, I have been on the ground. I found myself moving into the creative space, and this started from ‘My Flatmates’. I joined the TV series, My Flatmates, and we got an opportunity to begin to tell our own story. I wrote a couple of episodes, and that gave me the confidence to begin to create more stuffs and things like what I’ve actually wanted to do, which is to tell the stories that affect people and make impact. I’ve been inside. You know that when you’re trying to create something, you lock yourself up so you don’t get distracted by a lot of things that are happening and you can really focus and write the things you want to write. I’ve been on this for the past two years. Last year, I shot my TV series, Kyaddala, under Emmanuel Ikubese Films. It was shot in Uganda and we are ready to showcase to the world what we have. It’s going to be a Pan-Africa audience. We are premiering it in Uganda because that’s where we have partners, but I’m also talking to some people to see how we can do it here in Nigeria. We are pushing it.
Why Pan-Africa and how do you link it to Kyaddala?
I went to a university that had a lot of people from Africa. I schooled in Kenya . I lived there for seven years. I think that mindset of an African resonates a lot with me, and in my first show, I was the Nigerian character in the Pan-African show that had Kenyan characters. I just believe in telling stories that are Pan-African, which are amazing; you open up your audience to a whole new world, let them know what is happening in your own country and vice versa. It is just amazing, because I believe whatever happens in a country, another person in another country can relate with it. I see Africa as one. I think it’s our culture that differentiates us a little bit. But it’s actually the same thing we do.
What story are you now telling about Kyaddala?
With Kyaddala, I’m trying to start a conversation for young people, for parents, and for our younger generation, and that’s why Kyaddala, meaning ‘Its Real,’ is telling real stories from teenage pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, teachers/students relationships, to absentee parents and bullying in schools, to rape, to domestic violence and early child marriage. We are basically using films to tell these stories to engage people to start having this conversation. So, they are stories from real life experiences, some are taken from people we interviewed and are infused into the story so that people can see it on television across the African continent. But these are issues that are affecting people. That’s why we are putting it out, so that people can see and learn from it. They know someone who’s going through this or they might speak to their daughter or child who might be going through this.
Tell us more about Kyaddala?
Like I said, this is not just about Uganda. It is an African story and their ways of living. It is prevalent even here in Nigeria. We have child marriage, we have rape and I’m not talking about adult rape alone, I’m talking of underage girls between 14 and 15 years being raped, and these are people in high school because I started off the story with high school setting.
It is an African thing, so what platform will people get to see the series?
It is going online, it’s going to be on YouTube, and we are going to put it on terrestrial TV and on platforms across Africa. In Uganda, we have TV already on it and in Nigeria we have some people we are interested in it and we also going to put it online. And once it is online, everyone will want to see it, you know the world is now a global village. It is an eight-part series, and it is going to be shown once a week to run for eight weeks.
Who are the other actors starred?
Myself, Olumide, Anita Makiwa, who is a top radio presenter in Uganda and someone like Toke Makinwa. We also have Salvador, he is like Basket-Mouth, and he is one of the biggest comedians in Uganda. We have Matake, she’s big over there as well, and she is half-Rwandan and half-Ugandan. We have Tevin from Kenya. We have a quantum of actors from Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria.
What you are doing is quite commendable, but how do you intend to connect with the audience?
That’s why we are partnering with Terrestrial TV, so that people in the rural areas can watch it.
In Nigeria, we already have some of the local TV stations involved. You don’t need DSTV or internet to watch Kyaddala. It will come up in any of the local terrestrial platforms. My partner is an organization that uses content to reach out to young people. They organize screening for young people in the rural areas in Uganda as well. So people who can’t watch TV will be able to watch this because they also put up certain activities where they bring in people from different regions and they show things like this.
The head of the foundation is my very good friend. I’ve known him for years, and we have been doing a lot of projects together. We intend to keep going. We’re trusting God to go into the season two and go on and on and keep telling the story.
What was the experience like as a director?
It was a really good experience for me and an eye opener. What I do as an actor is that I watch a lot and I learn on the job. When I get on set, I just watch what the director is doing and what the camera crew is doing. I knew that this is what I want to do at one point in my life and I ask questions as well because I want to know. I’m privileged to be able to do this myself. By the grace of God, I look back and ask myself how I was able to do it and I realized it’s just the grace of God. I’m also grateful to my crew. I have great editors who have been able to brainstorm together and create something that could make an impact.
People know you more with your foundation, have you now delved into filming?
Nothing is wrong with the foundation. It is still up and running. It is one of the reasons I went to Uganda, especially for the foundation issue. We don’t get as much support as we should get in Nigeria.
I remember spending a lot of personal money pushing what I want to do, and for me what I want to do is to use my platform as a media person, using the media to tell stories, to create awareness on domestic violence. This what I was trying to do using my foundation and having spent my own personal money, at least if you’re shooting a movie you know you are getting a return but when it comes to foundation, you are doing it because you are passionate about it and if you don’t get the kind of support you should get, it becomes a kind of burden for you as a person. So you just put a pause to it hoping when I can get partnership , we can come on board because if you are doing media you have to create impact and I’m happy when I spoke to my friend about Kyaddala, I discovered we are on the same page.
It’s not just focusing on domestic violence alone but wider array of issues that are affecting young people and it is still in line with what I want to do. I’ve not derailed from that path. In fact, it has a wider reach because it is a partnership and I’m also hoping that could help with what I want to do with the foundation and Project Raw here in Nigeria. Project Raw is all about Emmanuel Ikubese, but for now, this is an Emmanuel Ikubese film. I enjoy what I do. I’m a reserved person, I’m just about work. I want people to know me for my work. That’s why, if it’s not about my work, you really don’t see me. I’m the type that doesn’t post unnecessary things to catch people’s attention. For me, it doesn’t matter how long it takes, I just want to be known for doing things I love to do.
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