THE original religions of Africa have been declining over time owing to the influence of western acculturation and proselytising by Christianity and Islam. Ifa, the original religion of the Yorubas is one of such African religion caught in this erosion and Kunle Afolayan thought it would make an interesting exposee if reasons leading to this is revisited and presented through a film documentary. The result is a series of lessons on Yoruba traditional religion that is billed to make debute on Mnet from January 1, 2013.
A young and curious filmmaker; the creative ingenuity of Kunle Afolayan is so rioutious to the degree that some feel that playing along the edge of the rule is precarious. But the young man has got the creative license to provoke thoughts. Undaunted, Kunle can sometimes be in a world of his own. This, to some schools of thought is a plus in the creative art. Nothing compares to when an artiste enjoys the rhythm of his work, they would say. Indeed, Afolayan thus enjoys what he does; reason his Golden Effects Pictures outfit has grown so fast, with the acquisition of state of the art equipment.
From a co-produced movie entitled Irapada, young Afolayan, one of the sons of legendary filmmaker, the late Ade Afolayan (Ade Love) grew his teeth faster than imagined to make debute of a solo production entitled The Figurine (Araromire). The latter was soon followed by another award-winning; his very current flick called Phone Swap.
In preparation for 2013, this filmmaker’s search mind for ground-breaking story ideas rested on tradition. Of course Nigeria has so much that we can call our own; so much that western education is fast eroding, even from Igbonna, Kwara state where Kunle Afolayan hails from. But his start-off idea of becoming a filmmaker of international stand quickly brought the much talked about Yoruba connection with Brazil to mind. He decided to travel to Rio, armed with still and video cameras.
Six hours by flight to South Africa, five hours of waiting to connect, another 10 hours by flight to Sao Paolo, eight hours of waiting to connect, yet another 1 hour’s flight to Rio, Afolayan made for himself another family of Ifa worshippers, spending seven days as a sojourner. Yes, their language is Portuguese, but like a Muslim who may not speak Arab but recites the Holy Quran fluently, these family who do not speak Yoruba recite the Ifa verses in Yoruba language. A stunned Afolayan could not believe this.
Needless to say that that experience which later took him to Cuba, was the beginning of his studentship of the Yoruba traditional religion, honing his skills around Ifa divination, the Olodumare (self-existing deity) and the Orishas; known to be the intermediaries between Olodumare and humanity. These smaller deities, like you would find in a Babalawo scene in a Yoruba movie include: Esu, (a trickster deity who generates confusion but is also a protector); Ibeji (the deity of twins); Ogun (the god of iron, war, justice); Orunmila (the oracle divinity); Osanyin (the god of magic and medicine); Osun (the goddess of the river Osun); Oya (the goddess of the river Niger); Sango (the god of thunder and lightning; Sopona (the divinity associated with smallpox); and Yemoja (the goddess of all rivers) among others.
Back in Nigeria, the expedition took him round the South Western states where for several weeks he was the guest of Obas, High Chiefs and Ifa Priests, and other custodians of culture, tradition and religion within the Oduduwa kingdom. The said 26-episode documentary features these Royal Fathers of Yoruba land, Ifa Priests, shrines, cultural festivals, traditional games and the general lifestyle of the descendants of Oduduwa. When next you find yourself in the company of the actor, dial his phone number, and just listen to his ring tone. You may find out that it is an Ifa chant through the voice of High Priest Ifayemi Elebuibon, a famous Babalawo in Yoruba film and title holder of ‘Araba Awo’ of Osogboland, Osun state.
This is how personal Kunle Afolayan is getting with tradition. He is not only thrilled by his new discoveries, he is excited about its predictive audiences and perhaps the filmic style that will further assert him as a creative filmmaker. Beyond this documentary entitled Isedale Yoruba (Yoruba Heritage), the filmmaker is said to be working on his next feature film project, which may commence shoot in March 2013.
The proposed film is a psychological-thriller. It tells the story of September 1960 — with Nigeria on the verge of independence from British colonial rule, a northern Nigerian Police Detective, Dan Waziri, is urgently despatched by the Colonial Government to the trading post town of Akote in the Western Region of Nigeria to solve a series of female murders that have struck horror in the hearts and minds of the local community. On getting to Akote, more murders are committed, and with local tension high and volatile, Waziri has a race on his hands to solve the case before even more local women are killed.
Matters take a turn for the worse, however, when Waziri discovers that his prime suspect is none other than the highly influential, university-educated son of the King of Akote, Prince Aderopo. Intelligent, good-looking, charismatic, witty and daring, the prince proves to be a most complicated adversary for Waziri. Set against the backdrop of the national celebratory mood of the impending independence, Waziri and Prince Aderopo indulge in a game of cat and mouse as they try to outwit each other… leading to the climatic end in which the life of a popular local female teacher and village belle, TAWA, is held in the balance. Waziri has to race against the clock to capture the prince, save Tawa and solve the crime before the British flag is lowered and the Nigerian flag raised on Independence Day… October 1st.
