Tunde Kelani can be rightly described as a legendary Nigerian filmmaker. His latest flick, Dazzling Mirage, a love story, focuses on the pains brought about by sickle cell disorder. In this interview with JOE AGBRO JR., he talks about the movie, the challenges of filmmaking in Nigeria and how the government can ensure the industry is successful. Excerpts:
DAZZLING Mirage has been showing in cinemas and it is even showing during this Easter. What have been the feedbacks and reactions you’ve got?
Dazzling Mirage was released in the cinemas on February 20 and it is still out there, but the feedbacks and the reactions have been rewarding in the sense that people are actually enjoying the movie and getting the messages that are in the movie.
You know, it’s an entertaining romantic drama but, it’s also an advocacy film in drawing attention to sickle cell disorder – people living with the disorder and the support they are supposed to get from both family and friends and the society. And the film suggests that we should be informed, we should know our genotype, and we should attend genetic counseling so that when we take decisions, we won’t take decisions based on ignorance. We would be taking decisions from informed opinion. But the greatest challenge we have is to make as many Nigerians, Africans and Africans in Diaspora see this film. So, it’s a challenge.
Could this be the reason you’re collaborating with Continental Broadcasting Service to screen the movie during this Easter?
Yes, by our partnership with Television Continental (TVC) and their sister station, Radio Continental, it is to bring the film, because of its popularity and because of the importance of the message, to the masses, to bring the film into the communities. You know, we are deficient in cinema infrastructure in Nigeria. So, we always have to make up for it. So, this is one intervention. This is a fantastic partnership between Mainframe Productions and TVC.
What are some of the things you will consider as the major problems affecting the Nigerian film industry?
Well, there are so many things, so many challenges facing the industry. The industry is a junior industry. It is still growing up. But it is important that it grows up properly. Imagine an industry growing up without the necessary infrastructures and institutions to support it. So, definitely, a lot of things have to change. For instance, the creative and entertainment industry or let’s say specifically, Nollywood, faces a kind of political patronage coming from our recent experience, especially in an election year.
Government would need to develop comprehensive policy for the creative industry. There has to be a roadmap to tap into the creative industry. We have to identify the diversity of the industry, practice, style, culture and things like that. And then, we have to identify the economic opportunities and socio-cultural values. And we have to tap into the power we wield, broadly in Africa and in the Diaspora and harness all these to resuscitate the battered image of Nigeria in the international community. And then, government has to look at the capacity building, film distribution, infrastructure, funding, and more importantly, we have to raise the fight against piracy. Piracy is going to destroy that industry (entertainment).
We have to raise piracy to the level of economic crimes like narcotics, in which case the agency that should fight it should be a strong, powerful, and active and dynamic like NDLEA (National Drug Law Enforcement Agency) or EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission). If we don’t do that, pirates are getting a wrong image, thinking they can do it in broad daylight. But if suddenly, piracy is raised to the level of narcotics or financial crimes that has to be dealt with by special agencies like NDLEA or EFCC, ICPC, they would run away. They would be driven underground. But, this kind of kid-stuff they’re giving them the impression that they are above the law. Those are really important things.
In this current dispensation, the president has actually given money to the industry for capacity building and film distribution. What is your take on that?
That to me wasn’t looking like something institutional that was going to be sustainable. What he did was to identify a lot of individuals who got a lot of money and effectively looked like they were political jobbers. It looked like the whole industry was reduced to a level of political jobbers as we saw the activities of some. But, what we are saying is that there has to be a broad policy which should be tied to institutions.
Imagine like University of Ibadan tying up with UCLA (University of California Los Angeles) in America to do filming and capacity building. Or a University of Lagos in partnership with a London Film School and things like that in capacity building – something that can last and last and last. There is a long way to go. There has to be skills knowledge transfer from established industries. And we can only do that through partnership with local institutions here in Nigeria.
Recently, the entertainment industry was recognised for its contribution to the country’s GDP. But how really is the film industry different from say, agriculture or transportation?
Just to give you an example. If you look at the number of cinemas we have in Nigeria in relation to a population of about 160 million people, we’re non-starters. So, an example is that government can really assist to build that cinema infrastructure in towns, in cities. These are going to be people-friendly cinemas. Imagine a sort of a cinema chain with 2,000, or 5,000, or 10,000 seats. Imagine releasing a film in Nigeria that is accessible to one million Nigerians.
Then, we can start to talk of a proper industry. We cannot start to talk about 50 cinemas at this stage. So, I don’t think I can compare (the entertainment industry) with any of other industries unless we build the capacity and we strengthen the infrastructures. I think we are still some time off. I think government should really articulate broadly those policies first.
What is the place of film schools in the film making process?
That should be part of education. The importance of media and mass media is essentially institution. There’s need to continue to educate at all levels. It is one of the ways to enter the industry for people who have educational backgrounds in other areas. And then they combine this with practical training on the job and so on. And film again is vast in so many areas – people who are doing aesthetics, people who are theorists, people who are academics in film. You know, outside of making the film itself, there is film studies, there is film history, there are other areas. So there should be institutions that teach all those things.
Do you think some of the movie regulatory bodies like the Nigerian Film Corporation and the National Film and Video Censors Board are living up to their mandates?
Those institutions should be reviewed and they should be strengthened. And not only that, perhaps, they should be well-funded because they are certainly not equipped to perform their functions effectively in the industry. So, those are perhaps part of what the government should look into. It’s looking as if the industry has almost outgrown those agencies. So, I think the agencies are needed to be reviewed and (government should do) whatever needs to be done to make them to perform their roles effectively in the industry.
We have a new president-elect in the person of General Muhammadu Buhari. What are some of your expectations from him, particularly concerning the entertainment industry?
Well, what I know is that outside of oil and gas which is now seriously economically affected, I think the creative industry’s contribution to economic development is going to be huge and therefore, I think that the government should map out the Nigerian creative industry in order to identify the diversity and terms of practice and everything. I think the creative industry itself needs a policy to take advantage of the huge potentials in the industry. And government should look at the kind of intervention that would build the creative industry.
A lot of people too have come to agree that you’re a legend so to speak in film making in Nigeria. When you watch some other Nigerian movies, do you think they’re doing enough?
Well, I think that Nigeria is diverse. And we have freedom of expression. That is why we have to look at that diversity, perhaps, as an exciting and valid aspect of Nollywood. Whatever the film, whatever the topic, certainly, it has its own audience. And sometimes, the producers respond to the demand of that particular audience but there is a lot of room for improvement in quality and standard because of the advantage of digital technology era.
And I think so far, Nigeria has done well, at least in creating this brand that cuts across Nigeria and Africa. But if we play it right, if we continue to work at it and with proper policy from government, there is no reason why the Nigerian film industry should not be able to relate to the other senior industries globally. In other words, we can play and win, not only on the continent, but globally.
At the recently concluded AMVCA (Africa Magic Viewers Choice Award), your movie, Dazzling Mirage, was nominated in certain categories but it did not win any award, how did you feel and what do you think is the place of awards in filmmaking?
Well, yes, awards perhaps mean something. But sometimes, a film must have inherent value above awards which may not be at that time clear to the awardees. But that is not important. What is important in a film like Dazzling Mirage is its combination of entertainment and advocacy in a subject that is very crucial in our national development. If it is true and it is true it is a fact that Nigerians have the greatest number of carriers of sickle cell trait. And 150, 000 die annually. And 416 children are born every day with the disorder, then Dazzling Mirage draws attention to this condition. That would be more valuable than any award. The objective is to get as many people to see this film and get the message. And not only that, be agents of change in drawing more attention and hopefully, getting some positive action to address this grossly neglected area of health in our national life.
