He is regarded as a very talented actor and creative director in Nollywood. Fred Amata, one of the few who are blessed with good looks in the industry, is a household name. Since his emergence on the movie scene, he has featured in a number of award-winning flicks. In this interview with MERCY MICHAEL, the respected thespian speaks on his new move, family and relationship, among other interesting issues.
I know you are a little above 50, but you don’t look your age. Is your gene responsible or is there something you are doing right?
Honestly, I must say it is genetic, though I love to play football. I have very poor stamina; so, for me to play for five minutes, I have to exercise regularly. I don’t think I work out much, but I do work out. Every other thing, I do normally. In fact, now days, I’ve discovered that I eat too much late at the night. I still have my regular bottle of drinks.
Movie-wise, what have you been doing? Or have you suddenly decided to slow down?
I think that is a good way of putting it. There is a deliberate retrospection or introspection so that what we are coming out with next might match up to my own personal expectations. The truth is that, in the past years, the challenges have become a little less. In the last eight years ago, there is nothing I haven’t done seriously.
Does it mean you are no more passionate about films?
I don’t do anything in my life. My passion is films; my work is films. So, I really wanted to do something different, but the environment was changing differently from what I expected. So, the kind of budget I was looking out to achieve this was becoming almost unattainable. As a result, I just kept staying on the working board. And then, the system has changed. The industry has really improved. Therefore, you now have to take it to a higher level. There are a few of us who are really capable of taking it to a higher level and I’m proud to be one of them. That’s the truth. Even if you look at the antecedents, you will find out that, there are certain key people who changed the trend. In other words, when they do something at this level, everybody wants to look up to them. I’m lucky to have had that kind of influence on the industry. But at this level, what is coming out next is world-class, which we are all looking for.
When are you doing your own production?
Another thing is that I did a lot of productions as a director for hire. So, I probably have the larger percentage of my works as a director for somebody else’s production. But I’m also a producer. I’ve done all aspects of audio-visual, TV commercials, films and even talk shows like ‘Inside Out with Agatha’. That was most challenging because there was nothing like it then. It took a visionary to be able to even do it, not to talk about sustaining it. But we managed to find a formula, which I introduced and that will never fail. But that was then. I discovered recently that, it’s like a trend with the Amatas. They want to do something new and something bigger than the usual. We’ve tried in that aspect. And knowing that that level exits, we have got to keep raising the bar.
Having done this much in the industry, what would you say is your dream role then?
I don’t think I can have a dream role any more. It’s just a dream production, so it encompasses everything. I have a story I am working on like that. Ironically, it is the story of my father. He was a great guy in this country and a few don’t know much about him. Apart from the fact that he did the first film in 1957, he was part of a lot of things happening today. He was the first elected students’ union president in Nigeria. But nobody knows that. The University College, Ibadan is another part of the story because he left six months to his graduation.
Why?
He left with an ideology that was so powerful. It moved him out of school and that’s how he made his first film ever, Freedom, which became so successful. He travelled the world. The film has been translated into 120 languages. So, after many years, in the 60’s, he decided to come back to Nigeria. He tried to put all the ideas he had acquired all over the world in Nigeria and then he ended up being the principal of a secondary school. He was so good that in Warri, the governor of Mid-West State then, Ogbemudia, recognized him. He would be like this one wey no get certificate, na him be principal? So, there was this huge campaign, which led to the operation show your certificate. That was when it started. And he didn’t have a certificate. So, he went back to University College, Ibadan to continue from where he stopped. But unfortunately by then, it had become University of Ibadan and they didn’t have his records anymore. The only option he had was to do a four-year course. That same point in time, his first son had just gotten admission into that school to study Theatre Arts. Guess what he did? He went to school, sat down in the same class with his first son and they both graduated four years later. That was Zack Amata. They both graduated with 2:1 and they did their Masters and everything. There are lots of other things we shouldn’t be saying here because they will be in the film. There are lots of other things that will both be controversial and engaging. For instance, Prof. Wole Soyinka, my father and a few others formed the Pirate Confraternity that has now ‘scattered’ Nigeria
Is this a family project or just your own production?
It’s a family project. The idea now is that for the first time in the world, a family is telling a story of its patriarch. The story is written by one of his sons, directed by another son and performed by another Amata. So, it’s an Amata movie. It’s a complete Amata movie. Jeta is coming in, Ruke is coming in and Zack is doing the script, as we speak. So, it’s huge. I wanted to play both parts when he was younger and when he was older, but I’m getting old. Luckily, we have some other Amatas. My 16- year old daughter is going to be a filmmaker.
How do you feel knowing your daughter is taking after you?
She is travelling to go and study films. How it feels? I’ve never received any piece of news as sweet as that. She told me on my birthday that she had chosen to study films. I think it is the greatest birthday present I ever got. She has always been interested in the arts. We are Amatas. My father was an actor and my mother an actress. We took after our parents; so, the fact that my daughter is taking after me makes me feel good.
How would you describe the changes in Nollywood in the past few years?
Nollywood has always been capable of doing great. Unfortunately for the system, in its evolution, mediocrity came in, like every sphere of endeavour in Nigeria, and choked it. So, the real filmmakers couldn’t express themselves until the budgets became leaner and leaner and then mediocrities became more and more. Despite the fact that there are still changes in technology, the art of filmmaking is beginning to come out from filmmakers in Nigeria. And so, in the past few years, there has been a tremendous change. The introduction of cinema changed the industry entirely and that change is actually the key to the great Nollywood that is coming out of Nigeria. If you look at our works now, you will see that the sound quality is better, including pictures and directing. It was never because of the lack of AMP that we didn’t capture proper sound; rather, it was because it was cost-effective to use the camera mic, instead of going to spend N150,000 to get proper sound recording equipment- and the audience liked it. Now that the audience is changing and is asking for more, I would say there are very positive moves that have happened. The industry truly is breaking into fractions. The filmmaking itself is breaking into factions. We now have films made for mass consumption. Then, we had films made for television, which is now called cinema films.
Since the last three years that a woman took over the leadership of AGN, how would you assess it?
Before Ibinabo( Febresima), the Actors’ Guild of Nigeria was bedeviled with a lot of crises. But somehow, Ibinabo has been able to manage that. Call it a woman’s touch; women are powerful. For me, whether it is because of Ibinabo that we have a president who is interested in the industry, I don’t know. But the truth of the matter is, even the President understands the need for the development in the sector. In the next few years, Nigerian films will be competing so vigorously on the world stage. I have predicted this several years ago.
Are you going to ever give love a second chance?
Of course, I can’t stop believing in love. I’m a product of love. I think we are made of love and greater love than we generally understand it to be.
Who is your idea woman?
My idea woman is a woman whose beauty is from the heart; so, physical prowess has never been my strongest point in forming a bond in a relationship. It is a woman’s inner beauty that actually attracts me. They say some people like Lepa and I like Lepa; they say some people like Orobo and I like Orobo and they say some people like them tall and I like them tall. But as I said, it is not your physical beauty that does it for me.
How do you unwind?
I’m that kind of person who uses every opportunity to celebrate life. You should have seen me dancing here. I have always been extroverted. You can leave me alone in the room and I will find a reason to be excited. That’s my kind of person, unless there is one major problem.
Do you have your low moments?
I’m extreme on both ends. I’m a happy- go-lucky guy, but you must be careful not to push me. There are some certain little things that I do not tolerate. I’m extreme; I don’t like injustice. I fit dey dance here now and somebody say oh boy…I fit fight. But over the years, we’ve learnt how to maintain the happier side of life.
