IT is always interesting to be a participant at film festivals, where filmmakers, enthusiasts, and entrepreneurs, apart from the film screenings and networking, take time out to share experiences of their local film industries, and learn something about the different film environments across the world.
It was at one of those industry sessions at the Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) which ended today, that film was discussed as a tool of diplomacy.
Julien Ezanno, Aide Aux Cinemas due Monde at CNC who talked about the possibility of Nigeria entering into co-production with France, opened the discussion on how filmmakers can relay sensitive information without offending the sensibilities of government and the people.
The panel had Charles Novia recalling how Nollywood started at a time when Nigeria was under the military government, and how some of its narratives had aided the return of democracy in Nigeria. Unfortunately, it has not been a walk in the park for filmmakers to air their critique of politics and the public service under the current democratic dispensation.
While Novia also blamed the dearth of revolutionary filmmaking on the laziness of filmmakers to employ literary allusions in bringing government heresies to the fore, Obi Asika noted that, apart from the fact that government may frown at its critics, there is a lot of self-censorship going by our cultural orientation. According to him, the world seems to have ran out of original story ideas, thus, many hide under the excuse of institutional censorship. “If you have any story to tell, tell it, and don’t be afraid,” he said.
Prompted by this discussion, I realised that, in actual fact, Nigerian films of today is deficient in record of satire, as we had among the earlier filmmakers. Even using film as direct confrontation to bad governance is a rarity. One can only wonder how much references would be available of revolutionary films, if the late Afrobeat founder, Fela Anikulaop-Kuti was a filmmaker.
In the face of harsh government policy and censorship of motion picture works, filmmakers in other clans, as I often say, have found their voices in exile. This was what many thought Ishaya Bako would do when his documentary, ‘Fuelling Poverty’ was outlawed by the government of Nigeria through the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB).
Bako was probably silenced by patriotic spirit. He would do nothing further like route a revolutionary film at international film festival or go into a co-production with foreign agencies just to wash the country’s dirty linen on the global stage.
Well, let’s just say that what works for one man may not work for another. Otherwise, Sudanese filmmaker, Hajooj Kuka, wouldn’t have ‘defeated’ Omar al-Bashir at the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) in 2015.
It was one of those cases of film in exile, and it earned Kuka a reward when his documentary film, ‘Beats of the Antonov’, which depicts al-Bashir, not just as the kind of leader who drops bombs on unarmed civilians, but also as a racist who divides his country along racial and ethnic lines, won the Artwatch Africa laurel.
The artiste has been winning awards for the daring film that shows the vicious treatment the citizens are facing in the hands of the country’s leader.
That showcase at DIFF, occurred barely a month after Omar al-Bashir escaped detention in South Africa, following International Criminal Court (ICC)’s order.
However, Kuka’s documentary says it all, giving a human face to al-Bashir’s victims at that Durban film fest and earning nods from viewers and judges at the festival. His plaque was accompanied by a R15, 000 cash prize (equivalent of N234, 230 then) in honour of an African film that meaningfully engages with issues of Freedom of Expression.
Let’s take a look at another fighter; the embattled Iranian filmmaker, Jafar Panahi, who won the Golden Bear at Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) few years back, for his Tehran road movie, ‘Taxi’, which critics described as a victory for freedom of speech and the art of cinematic storytelling.
The dissident filmmaker, who was banned from making films by the Iranian authorities and forbidden from travelling abroad, starred in his own film as a taxi driver, talking to his passengers as he drives them through the streets of Tehran.
Berlinale’s decision to celebrate Panahi didn’t stem from a perception of affront to the filmmaker’s country.
“Instead of allowing his spirit to be crushed and giving up, instead of allowing himself to be filled with anger and frustration, Jafar Panahi created a love letter to cinema,” said Darren Aronofsky, the American director and Berlinale jury president. “His film is filled with love for his art, his community, his country and his audience.”
Although committed to a six-year prison term and a 20-year ban from filmmaking by the Iranian government, the filmmaker has continued to be celebrated on the international stage.
I can recall that Panahi’s film, ‘Offside’, won the Berlin festival’s Silver Bear award in 2006 and in 2011. But he was prevented from attending the ceremonies because he could not get bail to attend.
His film, ‘Taxi’ was the first after his jail term, which again, has been described as his courage against his 20-year ban from filmmaking.
Well, I see more of a politicised film industry in the democratic setting, especially one that has enriched some Nollywood filmmakers from the loot of public office holders, as a result of which the revolutionary spirit may have been fed fat and unmoving.
