The late Biyi Bandele’s 2022 directorial feature-length, The King’s Horsemen premiered amidst pomp and glee last weekend.
According to the organisers of TIFF 2022, the premiere cum presentation was in memory of the late director, who has contributed to the global film industry at different levels.
In a tweet after Bandele’s death, TIFF Chief Executive Officer, Cameron Bailey, paid tribute to the director saying: “Biyi Bandele was doing something so rare in world cinema: large-scale adaptations of African literature meant for the whole world.”
The Netflix/EbonyLife production is the last feature film that the late Bandele worked on before his death last month.
The 96-minute film rendered in the Yoruba language features Odunlade Adekola, Shaffy Bello, Deyemi Okanlawon, Mark Elderkin, Jenny Stead, Omowunmi Dada, Olawale ‘Brymo’ Ashmi, Jide Kosoko, Kevin Ushi, Langley Kirkwood, and Fares Boulous ‘Oyibo Rebel’.
The film tells the story of the Elésin Oba (Odunlade Adekola), whose day has come to accompany the Alaafin of Oyo, King of Yorubaland (contemporary Nigeria, Togo, and Benin), into the afterlife. The intrigues, drama, and betrayal translate into the film.