Thread: Another Garland For Tunde Kelani

If anybody deserves accolade among the credible players in Nollywood, ace cinematographer, Tunde Kelani, certainly ranks among the best. And without sounding immodest, very few of those that deserve to be celebrated would come after him.

Not one to orchestrate honours to be bestowed on him, Tunde Kelani would rather wait for it to come naturally, because even in an assemblage of cinematographers, his accomplishment towers like the statue of Liberty in New York, United States of America. So, it was not surprising that his own people consider him worthy of honours, as celebrity journal, City People Magazine, through her sister outfit, City People Entertainment, sent words round that it would roll out the red carpet for him.

Come next Sunday, July 30, 2006, at the posh Excellence Hotel, Ogba, Ikeja, Lagos, the Lagos Island-born Ijaiye-Kukudi, Abeokuta, Ogun State indigene would be hosted to a grand reception in his honour. It is a welcome development that this is coming from the nation’s entertainment industry, and in his lifetime, too.

TK, as fondly called by admirers and colleagues, has been honoured many times within the shores of his fatherland and beyond. Records have it that he is the only Nigerian filmmaker to be celebrated in mid career at the prestigious Amsterdam Film Festival two years ago.

Shortly over a year, in April 2005 to be precise, he was celebrated on some Nigerian television stations across the country. In doing so, some of those who had not seen the films before had the rare opportunity to do so, and those who had seen them were delight to watch them over and over again.

Among some of the films showed were the classic, Ti Oluwa Nile, with the theme: Environment, and released in 1993; Saworoide – a socio-political commentary, which was released in 1999; Agogo Eewo – another socio-political commentary released in 2002.

Born in Lagos where he spent his first five years before he was moved to Ijaiye-Kukudi, Abeokuta, Ogun State, where his paternal grandfather was a chief at the time; young Tunde started his romance with camera during his secondary school education in the town. So fond of camera was he at the time that virtually everybody in the sleepy town knew him. Some people argued that his love for the camera might have unwittingly started on Taiwo Street, Lagos Island. At that street at the time were a couple of local photographers.

Wherever the love for the camera sprung from, his people recognised his penchant for it and were ready to help nurture rather than kill it for some filial excuse that he must study to become a lawyer or pursue a degree in medicine, as was the vogue then. And in doing so, they propelled him on when the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, established the first television station in the country. They saw to it that he joined the first television station in Africa to hone his skills.

From there, TK’s potentials were easily spotted and he was sent to the London Film School. He has since attended several other trainings, workshops and seminars in the art of filmmaking.

Indeed, he is an encyclopaedia on the country’s film industry. Very few of his contemporaries possess the experience he has. As teasers, he was on location with the acclaimed doyen of Nigerian theatre, the late Hubert Adedeji Ogunde, when he shot the controversial film on Nigeria, Mr. Johnson. And he did not just play a fringe role in the making of the film.

Ever so humble, he told a select crew of entertainment reporters in April 2005 prior to his works being celebrated on television that, "As I reflect on the significance of this celebration, I come to the conclusion that in a nascent industry such as ours, with its potentials and challenges, this project must not be viewed in the light of who or what Tunde Kelani is. I truly believe it is a celebration of more than 40 years of television broadcast in Nigeria, and our modest contributions to the development of African cinema. It is also a key lesson on the necessity to properly document and archive the notable motion picture works of our time in the context of our industry’s history."

He also lamented that, "It is this lack of historical information that informs the disrespect and disregard for some of our senior professionals whose works in the past truly defined the best and brightest efforts of their time."Some believe that sounding so, Kelani might be lamenting the fact that he could not lay a finger on some of his past works as a television broadcaster. Indeed, proponents of this school of thought might not be wrong.

TK had told Daily Independent in an exclusive interview at his Mainframe Productions office in Lagos: "It is a matter of great concern that today I have no access to any of my works from my television days and all the films shot on traditional celluloid films spanning more than 20 years."Even with the frustration such lack of proper documentation could cause a creative mind like him, TK has not stopped putting his creativity to play the way he knows best.

Arguably, no single filmmaker in the land can boast of generating many rave reviews of films like Tunde Kelani’s. According to him, his films are his own humble contributions to social discourse, even though some of them were situated variously in the context of his cultural experience and history of the Yoruba, yet represents his platform for creating social awareness on specific issues of concern and development.

Some of the films are Koseegbe (1995), Oleku (1997) written by Professor Akinwunmi Ishola; Thunderbolt (2001) written by Adebayo Faleti; and The White Handkerchief (1998).

Tunde Kelani, like the way he dresses and the name of his production house suggests, is one immersed in the culture of his people. He told Daily Independent in an earlier interview that, as a young boy he derived so much joy watching the performances of Yoruba masquerades. Little wonder he holds that, "There is a connection between my work at present and my youthful days when I discovered Yoruba literature."

One issue that is germane to the ace moviemaker is the need for standard and quality in the films that emanate from our country and indeed Africa. At different fora, he had emphasised the need for Nigerian and African moviemakers to elevate the standard of movies in the land, because of the growing awareness Nigerian films have generated in the global film industry.

That was why he gave the now famous quote, which he said was by Joe Pytka and the mission statement of the next era of his creative work thus: "The future lies in using new found technology to bring beauty, truth and honour to the work. To tell stories that couldn’t have been told in such a way before, but staying true to honest observations of the human condition."

However, as TK savours the honour come Sunday, he might not have a ballad recited for him, or a stage play that depicts his romance with the camera. He would, however, enjoy ample dosage of fun by some of the best entertainers in the land.

The masked singer, Lagbaja, with whom he had shared exquisite creativity in the past, would lead the pack. Lagbaja would lead other equally gifted singers like Beautiful Nubia, female songbirds, Asa and Yinka Davies, as well as humour merchants Tee A and Gbenga Adeyinka I. He would also be in familiar company with the day’s MC, Yemi Sodimu.

It is also a recognition of his high standing in the industry that elder art patrons and culture ambassadors like Chief Segun Olusola and Elder Steve Rhodes have agreed to chair the occasion and be guest of honour, respectively. So, ladies and gentlemen, a toast to one of the finest filmmakers that ever came out of the most populous Black nation in the world.

independentng.com