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The first thing
that will catch your attention when you walk into The Life House at
Victoria Island, Lagos, is the creativity it exudes. The serene and
peaceful air of the grounds complement its delicately-designed interior
and tasteful furnishings, which feature cosy chairs, well-polished
cabinets and floors.

Inside, several
elements tie together to remind you why this place got its name. From a
cafe that serves healthy food and drinks to a fitness centre for yoga
and pilates training to a boutique that sells clothes, accessories and
books, The Life House offers a wide variety of activities for the
well-being of body and soul.

Ugoma Adegoke is
the brain behind The Life House and is responsible for its interior
decoration. With a BSc in Economics from the University of Ibadan and a
master’s degree also in Economics from the University of Manchester,
Adegoke pursued a career in finance until she dropped it two years ago
for her interest in lifestyle.

“I had other interests which of course stole me away,” she says.

She believes
strongly in making people happy and says one way to do this is to reach
out through The Life House. The 32-year-old, who hails from Abia State
and is married to an Ondo State indigene, maintains that she only
manages The Life House. She insists that the place belongs to her, her
husband Dayo Adegoke, and the community.

According to her,
the opening of The Life House in January 2010 was motivated by her zest
for life and “the desire to live it fully.” She maintains that the
forces behind The Life House are life and community, therefore, it
regularly holds activities which promote culture and community living,
like film screenings, book readings and concerts.

Gift to Community

Most activities at The Life House, such as the film screenings and book readings, are open to the public and free.

“We can offer these
films for free as a gift to our community,” Adegoke says. “We have the
equipment, we have the space and people are happy when they come here,
so why not?”

With free events,
The Life House relies on guests who patronise its cafe and boutique to
cover any associated costs. . However, Ugoma says the establishment
will begin charging customers a small fee to attend its mini-concerts,
which are currently free, to help pay for the attending band.

Adegoke is excited
about the establishment’s newly-commenced collaboration with the Lagos
branch of Alliance Francaise, a global French language institution,
which has meant that The Life House can now add French films to its
lineup of screenings. She explains enthusiastically that the
partnership is part of efforts to regularly engage the community in its
activities.

“The collaboration
between Alliance Francaise and the Life House is primarily about but
not limited to film,” she states. “There are other good things we will
do together in the future but this is the first.”

The Life House
hopes, through this collaboration, to be able to sponsor musical
events, dances and any other culturally-viable events which will
promote cultural exchange between residents of the city.

Adegoke is equally
passionate about literature, an interest which led her to establish the
Abule Book Club – a meeting point for Lagos’ literati to discuss books
and interact with authors, who are sometimes invited to give book
readings. The club meets on a monthly basis.

Fela in the Life House

To pay homage to
Fela Anikulapo-Kuti and usher in the highly anticipated Broadway
musical Fela! onto the Lagos stage, The Life House has organised a week
of events celebrating the Afrobeat legend, from April 19 to 24.

“We decided to just
dedicate a week to welcoming Fela! on Broadway to Nigeria,” Adegoke
says. “‘Fela in The Life House’ will feature various tributes and
accolades on Fela. We are re-enacting our own Fela tribute.”

The line up for the week includes poetry and book readings, art and dance, all of which will in some way pay homage to Fela.

An art exhibition,
‘Art of Rebellion’, will kick off the week’s activities on Tuesday,
April 19, and will run through the end of the month. Works by Lemi
Ghariokwu and Weyinmi Atigbi – passionate Afrobeat devotees and graphic
artists heavily influenced by Fela – will be displayed during the
exhibition, which will be curated by Victor Ehikhamenor.

“We are big lovers
of Fela here,” Adegoke says, delightedly. ‘Fela in The Life House’ is
also a way for The Life House family to show their love for the late
musician.”

Fashioning interiors

In addition to
running The Life House, Adegoke is pursuing a career in interior and
fashion design under the brand name Zebra. Her love for lifestyle has
been a motivating factor for engaging in the art of beautifying people
and her environment.

“This is what I do.
I do interiors. I did this chair you’re sitting in,” she says to me
with satisfaction, indicating a simple yet classy chair with a mix of
fitting colours.

She finds
motivation for her work in the beauty of her pieces, as much as the
happiness of others. “It’s a wonderful thing making people happy,” she
says. “You always have moments when you say, ‘Wow! This is beautiful.’”

While there are positives aplenty, there are also some downsides to running The Life House.

“The cost of
running a business in Lagos with near-zero electricity is a challenge,”
she says. She also says she encounters some difficultly when she has to
explain to people what The Life House is about.

“Getting through to
people with a concept like this, which of course is quite daunting, is
a challenge,” she admits. However, she is quick to add that educating
people comes with its own rewards.

The designer attributes the success of The Life House to principles
of hard work and confidence. “Honestly, I’ll say it’s a combination of
hard work and love for family: my immediate family, my husband, and the
confidence to dare to try something,” she says.

If you ever thought the only way theatre can appear on a wall is
through the projection of motion pictures, then you should have seen the recent
exhibition of memorabilia by the Lagos State Chapter of the National
Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners. Titled ‘Flying Time’ and
curated by Dotun Popoola, the show, the first of its kind in the history of the
association’s 22-year existence, is an envelope of reflections and
reminiscences. Items on display included photographs, costumes, brochures,
posters, pamphlets and properties of the plays performed between the 1960s and
the mid-1990s. Held at the National Gallery of Art in Iganmu from March 19 to
March 29 with Yemisi Shyllon as a special guest of honour at the opening
ceremony, the show has enjoyed a tremendous viewing that now calls for an
encore.

All exhibited materials were sourced from Muraina Oyelami, an
active member of the then Duro Ladipo International Theatre; Bayo Oduneye of
the then School of Drama (Department of Theatre Arts), University of Ibadan,
who later became Head of Department of Theatre Arts at the Olabisi Onabanjo
University, Ago-Iwoye; and Segun Olusola, whose photographic archive preserves
reminiscences of old theatre performances in Ibadan, Lagos and even outside
Nigeria. One of such photographs is a 1959 performance by the Players of the
Dawn, featuring Segun Olusola, Christopher Kolade, Wole Soyinka, Elsie
Thomas-Nkunne (later Elsie Olusola), etc. In the image, they are all in their
20s and 30s and exude youthful exuberance. Other materials came from Femi Tade,
Secretary, Caretaker Committee of the Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts
Practitioners (ANTP), Lagos State Chapter; Ile-Ona Museum of Art and Archival
Materials, Iragbiji, the National Troupe of Nigeria, Zmirage Multimedia Ltd,
Ajibulu-Moniya Gallery, Diamond Productions, and the families of Hubert Ogunde
and Adeyemi Afolayan (Ade Love).

Archival images

Apart from photographic clips from Hubert Ogunde’s 1982 film,
Aiye and those from Ade Love’s Iya Ni Wura and the 1977 performance of Wale
Ogunyemi’s Langbodo featuring the youthful, but energetic Phillip Okolo as
Akara Ogun, there was also a very intriguing and amusing photograph of Lere
Paimo (popularly known as Eda Onile-Ola) in one of Duro Ladipo’s plays, titled
Eda. It was a 1963 performance where Paimo played the role of Eda, which has
since then become his stage name. There were also posters of plays such as Oba
Koso by Duro Ladipo, Obanta by Hubert Ogunde, Kongi’s Harvest by Wole Soyinka,
Ori by Funmi Odusolu produced by Gbenga Sonuga, Eni Aye Kan by Femi Tade, The
Black Jacobins by C. L. R. James, Ibinu Akogun by Hakeem Abiodun, and No Longer
At Ease and Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Also on view were two
full-length films by Nigeria’s foremost filmmaker, Francis Oladele featuring
Orlando Martins, Johnny Seka, Sunny Oti and Uganda’s Princess Elizabeth of Toro

Story of theatre as told
in pictures

The Nigerian theatre is like a cat with nine lives. Its
never-say-die stance in the face of crunching economic imbroglio could only
attest to its strength and consistent growth over the years. Otherwise, how do we
explain the stifling factors and crippling conditions against theatre practice?
What are the roles of the government at all levels? What efforts have been put
in place to ensure the profession thrives in an enabling environment? The
photographs on display have shown clearly that theatre practice once enjoyed
financial boost from government and funding agencies. Where then did we lose
it? How did today’s corporate bodies arrive at a stingy policy of supporting
theatre projects with mere products?

Really, is it impossible to look at the modern-day theatre
practice without due reference to the pioneering efforts of great individuals
whose selfless contributions laid the foundation upon which today’s artist
plies his trade. What are the efforts of the pioneers like Hubert Ogunde, Duro
Ladipo, Kola Ogunmola and other partakers of the travelling theatre
experiments? How did the English medium theatre come at par with the Yoruba
experiments? The Players of the Dawn, an amateur theatre group established by
Segun Oluosla and others in 1959 and the emergence of Wole Soyinka’s 1960
Masks, a professional group that relied heavily on the membership of The
Players in 1960: what practical evidence is there to show that indeed, those
efforts ever took effect? Answers abound in those photographs and posters
displayed on the walls of the National Gallery of Art for 11 days in
commemoration of this year’s International Theatre Day.

Memorabilia don’t lie

In Lagos, where theatre performances complemented the vibrancy
of Ibadan; the Mbari Mbayo experiments at Osogbo which produced great plays
that redefined the Nigerian essence as opposed to the reigning dogmatism to the
Western theatrical ideology; these are testimonies that have been captured in
words in volumes of books and academic papers written and presented at various
fora by Nigerians and non-Nigerians. These testimonies have been recounted
verbally to give vent to its authenticity. Lagos NANTAP takes the view that
memorabilia don’t lie, hence its insistence that: “With such physical
evidences, it becomes imperative to reinforce and re-authenticate those stories
that have been told either verbally or in textual form. This is what informs
our decision to source for memorabilia materials”. Indeed, nothing can be more
stimulating and refreshing to the memory like those photographs, posters and
other items of memorabilia on display.

Flying time is worthy of being taken around the country. Showing
our living legends in action rekindles the memories of those who were part of
the experience and naturally challenges and inspires this generation of
thespians. Reflections on, and reminiscences of, the activities of the past are
bound to either remind or instruct us about the past. That the pieces were
displayed in their raw form underscores their archival essence. This allowed
the viewer to further appreciate the real age and potency of truth and meaning
embedded in all materials.

How we got here

To capture theatre experiences of the past in juxtaposition with
the 21st-century experiments, the organisers decided to engage Bayo Oduneye and
Muraina Oyelami (pioneering member of the award-winning Duro Ladipo National
Theatre) whose vast combined knowledge ispriceless. Their interviews as
contained in the commemorative brochure are a rare revelation on the theatrical
activities of the past and how the magic of the time was achieved. The two
interviews are featured on the first few pages of the brochure. On the opposing
sides are another set of refreshing interviews granted by Segun Adefila, Artistic
Director of the Crown Troupe of Africa and Wole Oguntokun of the Renegade
Theatre. Their unfolding experiences are captured in their own words, to the
delight of the reader. The four interviews speak volumes about how we actually
got here. They also give us a slight insight into what to expect in
contemporary Nigerian theatre over the next ten years.

The Nigerian theatre artist might have celebrated this year’s International
Theatre Day in the usual Nigerian way that entails staging performances with
little or no support from the government or corporate sector. The exhibition
was a reflection on our actions and performances. The show achieved its desired
effect, which compelled the viewers to behold those priceless pieces and
mutter, “How time flies!”

Nobel Laureate,
Wole Soyinka, has endorsed ‘FELA! in Lagos’, the Broadway musical which
opens on Wednesday, April 20 at Expo Centre, Eko Hotel, Victoria
Island, Lagos.

The production,
about the life and music of inimitable afrobeat legend, Fela
Anikulapo-Kuti, is making its highly-anticipated debut in Nigeria after
successfully touring the US and Britain. The musical opened on Broadway
at the Eugene O’ Neill Theatre on November 23, 2009, after an acclaimed
run off Broadway in 2008. It ran for three months at London’s National
Theatre last year.

Soyinka endorsed
the musical, which heralds this year’s Lagos Black Heritage Festival,
at an interaction between the press and the crew and cast of the show
on Thursday, April 14. The writer and cousin to the afrobeat great,
said it was a pleasure to have Fela back. “You know he was my aburo
(younger brother) and he was dear to me. This is a show Nigerians will
see and enjoy,” he said, adding, “It’s emotional that Fela is back.”

Lead producer and
co-conceiver of the musical, Stephen Hendel, apologised for the absence
of director and choreographer, Bill T. Jones, reputed to be “America’s
most ferocious, fierce and political dance theatre choreographer.”
Hendel said Jones and his colleagues have created something special for
the audience and that FELA! is not a typical Broadway production. He
disclosed that the musical has reached thousands of appreciative people
around the world and that he was looking forward to its opening next
week.

Actor Sahr
Ngaujah, who plays Fela in the production, disclosed that he has been
involved in the show since its inception seven years ago. The Sierra
Leonean recalled Jones once saying that Fela “was a tornado of a man”
and that the show is not definitive of the late Fela, who died in 1997.
Ngaujah said what the producers have done is to take aspects of Fela’s
personality and from it “craft something we could offer to the world.”

Art producer,
Edward Tyler Nahem, disclosed that they had a lot of challenges
packaging the show but that the production crew is happy to be bringing
Fela back to Nigeria.

More than a show

Associate
choreographer Maija Garcia recalled that they started preparation for
FELA! in 2006, saying, “This is more than a show.” She expressed her
joy at the fact that FELA! is in Lagos at last, and also touched on why
Americans are telling Fela’s story. “Why are we the people that are
making it? The mystery is beyond our comprehension but it was one of
the most challenging and invigorating projects of my life.”

The choreographer
added that she had no doubt the Lagos show will succeed. “The show was
breaking doors, breaking bounds and I think that, essentially, is what
Fela is about… The greatest lesson I have learnt from Fela is not
only his resistance and resilience but also his attitude of performance
art.” Garcia reiterated that it is not just dance and songs that will
be offered to Nigerians when FELA! opens but “a show that will wake
people up.” She concluded, saying, “I’m honoured to be here, I’m
blessed as we all are.”

Fela’s former
manager, Rikki Stein, reiterated that the crew was proud to bring the
show to Nigeria and expressed hope that it will sell out. Yetunde
Sekoni of Broken Shackles, a Nigerian production company, acknowledged
sponsors of the musical and disclosed that prices of tickets range from
N5,000 to N35,000.

The production
manager of the show in Nigeria echoed Garcia when he said FELA! is more
than a show. He noted that the Nigerian production involves a skills
exchange between the majority Nigerian crew and their colleagues from
abroad. He noted that it is typical of foreign shows to downsize when
they come to Nigeria, but this is not the case with FELA!. The musical
is in Nigeria with the original Broadway cast, the stage set, the
lighting – everything. No cutting corners for a Nigerian audience
whatsoever, he assures. The production manager also won himself
applause by declaring that the crew comprises a ratio of six Nigerian
to every foreigner involved.

Homecoming

Cast members also
shared their experiences on the latest leg of the musical. All members
of the multicultural cast expressed joy at featuring in the production
and being in Fela’s home country. Farai Malianga, Oneika Phillips and
Lauren De Veaux were among those who spoke. Malianga disclosed that he
heard Fela’s music while growing up in Zimbabwe. Another cast member
drew on the significance for an African-American coming to Africa for
the first time, saying of the musical, “This is evidence of who we are
as people of African descent. I’m very humbled to be here. I’m proud to
call myself an African.”

Iris Wilson who
plays Najite, one of Fela’s queens, waxed poetic about her homecoming.
“I am an African born in America; that’s what I call myself. It is a
privilege and honour to be here in Lagos, Nigeria. My first time of
coming home to the motherland where my soul rejoices and my spirit
moves with the drums. It’s an honour to be here sharing Fela’s legacy.”
Lilias White, who plays Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, was not at the press
briefing but it was revealed that she had been so moved by the journey
to Lagos that she cried on the plane.

American Fela

Responding to why
no Nigerian is featured on the cast, Hendel said repeatedly that FELA!
is not a Nigerian show but an American one. “What moved myself and Bill
T. Jones and all the performers here wasn’t that Fela was a Nigerian
cultural export, which certainly he was. But that Fela was perhaps the
world’s most courageous musician during our lifetime and that the
legacy and artistry of Fela was not a Nigerian message, it’s a total
universal message. And in many respects, it is a message that resonates
more universally in 2011 much more than it resonated in 1977. The show
is always intended to have a subversive effect, but the subversive
effect is really intended firstly on American culture. For American
culture; for American theatre culture, for Broadway culture…The piece
is designed to be a universal global story about one of the world’s
geniuses who sacrificed everything in the fight for human dignity. it’s
not a Nigerian story, it’s a human story.” He added while answering a
related question that FELA! doesn’t presume to be a Nigerian show and
that he can’t do a show on Fela in under three hours.

Esoteric success

Hendel also
commented on the value added to the show by its superstar executive
producers, hip-hop musician Jay-Z and celebrity couple Will and Jada
Pinkett Smith. It all started with a blog post by Roots musician,
Questlove, championing the show after seeing it off-Broadway, and
calling for the African-American music community to embrace FELA! The
Musical. His glowing endorsement eventually led to Jay-Z and the Smiths
coming on board to provide financial backing for the show. “It was
fantastic to have these talents and celebrities endorse the show
publicly in the United States because in the United States the culture
is very US-centric. The US does not go beyond its borders for artistic
inspiration,” Hendel declared.

He gave commentary
on the show’s success in an otherwise insular American culture. “When
you have a show about an esoteric subject and you bring it to a
mainstream American audience – they said it would not last a month.”
Happily for all, the reverse has proven true. Michelle Obama, Spike
Lee, Alicia Keys, Mo Ibrahim and Madonna are among those who saw the
show during its Broadway run.

‘FELA! in Lagos’ is at Expo Centre, Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos from April 20 to 25.

I enjoyed reading
‘Waiting for Savon’ by Isaac Attah Ogezi. I love plays but I rarely get
the texts from Nigeria these days. Does anyone of my lovely readers
have any recommended plays from home? I can send my friends and
relatives to get them from the bookstores, along with my Nescafe and
groundnuts. ‘Waiting for Savon’ features a rollicking discussion about
political and ethnic tensions, using three main characters, each
representing Nigeria’s main groups. It is an interesting play on the
tensile anxieties among the three major ethnicities. I enjoyed the play
for it questions the reader’s ideals, the notion of the nation-state,
and one’s sense of the reality on the ground. The reader is forced to
reconcile all that with the rank irresponsibility of our leaders who
see us through linear lenses. And of course today, there is the reality
of blurred boundaries. I am quite fascinated by the burden of the
play’s anxieties. It is a simple play; there are no silly flourishes
with the language. I liked that because it freed me to follow the plot.
The dialogue is insistent, throbbing gently with an urgent message. It
folded itself into my pocket and followed me everywhere; it would reach
out and ask to read to me.

Plays are tricky
because the playwright is bringing together every trick of the writing
trade and you are talking dialogue; you can be easily shamed by an
audience looking for good quality dialogue because dialogue is life and
life is dialogue. Ogezi’s play is mostly dialogue; in my day, before
the Internet became everything, it would have made for a good radio
play. I hope Ogezi continues to work on his craft. I actually loved the
work’s simple trick of disembodying the three ethnic representatives,
as they were, from the people. The reader is focused on them and
fascinated by how seemingly disconnected they are from the reality on
the ground. Or are they? Ogezi provides the lots of food for thought.
This is no mean feat.

‘Waiting for
Savon’ made me nostalgic for my youth, when I used to prance around on
stage. Ogezi’s drama text made me hungry for Wole Soyinka’s ‘Jero’
plays, which I love. Soyinka is a world class playwright, genius flows
from him when he does plays. However, Ola Rotimi’s ‘The Gods Are Not To
Blame’ is my all-time favourite. I enjoyed playing Alaka the drunken
old man when I was young. The work is remarkable in how it takes a
Greek tragedy, ‘Oedipus Rex’, and adapts it into true Yoruba mythology.
Please read ‘The Gods Are Not To Blame’, if you have not done so
already. Like Chinua Achebe, Rotimi was a very confident wordsmith; the
English language did not intimidate him. He deployed English as if he
was using an indigenous language. And it shows in the play’s flow.

If I had to advise
any aspiring playwright, I would say, travel around and listen to any
and everybody. The plays are on the streets. And read, read, read the
masters. Talking about listening, my dad Papalolo taught me to listen
closely to people, to interactions, to the poetry of dialogue, to how
people really communicate. He would take me to our ancestral village
and we would visit folks in the most rugged of places and he would say
to me, “Ikhide, listen, just listen.” My dad was born with a good ear
for the poetry of living. He saw music and poetry in words and he would
say to me, all excited, “Did you hear that? Tell me, what do you think
they were really telling you?” In those days, we both hung around some
rugged places and drank several rounds of palmwine together, listening
to some great oral poets.

We both read
together voraciously. Achebe’s ‘A Man of the People’ is my dad’s
all-time favourite book. If he knew about the Nobel he would probably
say that Achebe should get the laurel every year on the strength of
that novel alone. He loved the character, Chief MP Nanga, and he used
to swagger around our parlour imitating that man. I loved the main
character, the idealistic Odili. My dad loved all the works of T.M.
Aluko and he bought them all, ‘One Man One Matchet’ and so on. He
adored ‘One Man, One Wife’ and he would read long passages aloud, to my
mother’s irritation.

My dad was an armful in his young days. But he was a warrior, who
defied the odds in that place called Nigeria. He taught himself what
the society would not teach him. As a result he got in trouble a lot,
but he taught me how to use charm and street smarts to get out of
trouble. Reading and writing and life-long learning were part of the
tricks of his trade. Growing up, my dad was a one man play, a
triumphant celebration of life. I thank Ogezi for making me remember my
dad.

We are seated on a day bed of patchwork upholstery, one of the innumerable proofs of Peju Alatise’s artistic ingenuity.

The multi-faceted
artist and writer says she is usually referred to as an old soul and it
is easy to see why. She speaks like one who has lived many lifetimes
and her debut novel ‘Orita Meta’ (2006) is what she terms her attempt
at understanding what life is really about.

‘Orita Meta’ looks
at three generations of women and the challenges of being an African
woman; and borrows a lot from Yoruba philosophy and folklore. The
writer says that her Yoruba heritage is an immutable part of who she
is. “It’s a part of me. Some of the stories in the book were stories my
mum had told me when I was young; and my grandmother too,” she says.

The book’s prologue
is profound in that it goes deep into the Yoruba philosophy of the
spiritual and its influence on the destiny of man. “A lot of people
have told me they found the prologue poetic, some have said esoteric,”
she says of the segment, which depicts how a woman meets with the devil
of the crossroads, who then attempts to read her palm.

On feminism

Alatise may come
across as a feminist because her art often dwells on the female as
subject matter and ‘Orita Meta’ tells stories of women, but she is wary
of the term. “I do not think ‘Orita Meta’ is a book meant for women
(simply) because it’s about women,” she says. “It’s not about fighting
and burning the bras. If I define feminism, I see that it is about
equal rights. If a man has the right to eat, can’t a woman have the
same right? Fighting for my right to be human is ridiculous. For as
long as feminism means a woman can make her own choices, then you can
call me a feminist. If feminism says I have the right to live, then I
am.”

Starting to write

Unlike many writers
who profess an awareness of their abilities from a young age, Alatise
never knew she could write. “I am talkative, I like to tell stories and
I have a strange imagination but I was not a writer,” she insists.

According to her,
it all began with painting. She did a couple of artworks for a close
friend and he told her to write short stories about each of the works.
“It was interesting writing about all the short stories,” she says.

Before long,
writing became a part of her. “I did a lot of faces and wrote stories
behind the faces,” she adds. At her studio, she would print out the
stories and lay them out on a table and people visiting the studio
would read them. However, “my closest friend lost her husband and it
was a painful loss for her and I felt for her. That was when I began
writing ‘Orita Meta’,” she says.

‘Orita Meta’

The process of
writing the book was mostly about her asking questions about existence.
“Why do [we] cry when people die? It could be for different reasons;
lose of income, security and survival,” she says. “For some, it could
be for loss of friendship and companionship. It was about being able to
create fictional characters that were influenced by various people I
had encountered. The challenges of these characters were some of the
answers to my questions about life.”

Alatise admits to
having enjoyed the whole process of writing, getting published and
finally holding the book in her hands, in spite of the challenges of
getting a publisher in Nigeria. She reveals that she got a lot of
rejections, with varying reasons given. “I had one who said that I
should come back after five years because good books are written after
five years. I got crazy responses,” she reveals with some amusement.

Undeterred, she
sent off the manuscript to a friend in South Africa who was working
with magazine. “He showed it to his editor and they thought it was
fantastic.” She left for South Africa almost immediately and had to pay
for an editor. It was eventually published in South Africa, but Alatise
admits that it was basically a self-published work.

While Alatise began
writing ‘Orita Meta’ out of a need to understand the essence of being,
the novel has taken on a life of its own way beyond the author’s
initial intention. It was nominated for the ANA/Flora Nwapa Prize for
Women’s Writing. Alatise, who enjoys collecting books, also loves to
read and in recent times has found herself reading and being fascinated
by Magical Realism.

Rhythmic Prose

“I was recently
introduced to the works of Latin American writer, Eduardo Galeano. I
find him humorous, very philosophical and witty. He writes like he is
dreaming,” she says. Chinua Achebe and Brazilian writer, Paulo Coelho
are also favourites, whose works have influenced her craft including
‘Orita Meta’, which she terms ‘Rhythmic Prose’. “I am fascinated by
Achebe’s use of language in writing and also the fact that he writes
from the perspective of an old soul… Reading Coelho, I asked myself
‘Are you really allowed to do this?” says Alatise, thrilled by the
freedom of imagination and possibilities which Magical Realism affords.

With a children’s
story book and a play already in the works, this 36-year-old graduate
of Architecture proves that her foray into writing is not a fluke.
Having made a success of her career as a visual artist, it will not be
a surprise to see her do the same as an author, especially as her first
steps have yielded noticeable results.

Mahmood Ali-Balogun
has embraced celluloid at a time when other filmmakers are giving it a
wide berth. His latest feature, Tango With Me, is shot on celluloid.
But was this necessary?

“As a filmmaker and
somebody who studied film, it is always one’s dream to shoot on the
best format. More so, there has been much noise about Nigeria where
it’s only video that we work on,” he says in his Surulere, Lagos office.

“This movie
attempts to correct that impression, in the sense that we started
shooting movies in this country on celluloid and we will continue to
shoot on celluloid though the digital format has come to stay. For us
film buffs, we believe that it’s the best format; it avails you wider
horizon in terms of exposure and acceptance. Once people know that you
shot on 35mm, they tend to respect that gesture. They believe you can’t
be investing so much money if you don’t have something worthwhile to
tell people. It’s to express myself in the format that I believe will
give best expression to my movie.”

Ali-Balogun’s
choice is also a personal statement. “There has been so much talk about
the quality of what we churn out in Nollywood – that we don’t shoot on
any other format. They are also saying we lack the discipline to work
on celluloid and I try to say within Nollywood we have that discipline.
We have that skill, we have that capacity, we have what it will take to
work on 35mm.”

Tough going

Shooting on
celluloid is far from easy and Ali-Balogun speaks from experience as he
admits, “It’s a format where you need a lot of discipline. Yes, it was
tough but if you know your onions, you can overcome these challenges.
We had problems, especially because people have not worked on that
format for a long time, and I used a mix of Nigerian crew and a few
people who came from Hollywood. It was tough, but we were able to
surmount most of the challenges. I knew what I was doing so I was
prepared for it and had the answers ready.”

Having the answers
ready, however, didn’t stop him spending about five years on the
project. He conceived the project in 2005, finalised the script in 2007
but waited until 2009 to start principal photography while he sourced
for funds and grappled with other pre-production issues.

Post production,
which had its own hitches, took place in his studio in Lagos, South
Africa, Dubai and Bulgaria. After working on the sound in South Africa,
he took the production to Bulgaria. “Getting there, I realised we had
difficulties with the sound so I commissioned the sound [to be] redone
in Sofia. I came back to Lagos again, did some more work before I took
the materials back to Bulgaria, before I got the final print about
three weeks ago.”

He went to much
trouble for the movie, but Ali-Balogun doesn’t see this as any big
deal. “That’s how it’s done,” he says. “It’s just that we don’t have
some of the support system here locally, so I had to go to these places
for a cheaper alternative. That’s why I went to Eastern Europe. I went
to Dubai on the recommendation of Kodak Motion Picture Film that
partnered with me. They advised that I work in those places; that it
won’t cost me as much as it would if I went to South Africa, England or
the US.” He also talks about how he bankrolled the production. “Funding
was essentially my funds, with support of few friends. This was not
necessarily in terms of cash but support in kind – using their homes
and other facilities. Eventually, I got the support of MTN, but it was
after I had finished shooting.”

A filmmaker who
decides to shoot on 35mm must have contemplated if the required
expertise is available in Nigeria before making his choice. Did
Ali-Balogun feel there was enough expertise in Nigeria to do what he
needed?

“I will say yes and
no. In terms of expertise, we have some old hands in Nigeria who had
worked on film before but technology has changed a great deal. A lot of
them don’t even have an understanding of the kind of film stock
available. There are improved film stocks that people are not used to.
It’s not that we don’t have the people but people with [up-to-date]
experience were lacking, so I had to bring in the camera crew from LA
and the camera itself. I used a Harry 535 brought from The Camera House
in Los Angeles and a three-man crew came with it. The other support
crew was from Nigeria. Most of the grip equipment is from Jungle Film
Works and some from Cinecraft. That’s why I said I got the support in
kind.”

Known and upcoming

Tango With Me
features big names including Genevieve Nnaji, Joke Silva, Tina Mba and
Ahmed Yerima, all of whom the producer is happy to have in the cast.
“That’s why I went for them anyway. I knew they would be able to
interpret the roles effectively and in that light, bring out the vision
I have. I did the casting myself and I wanted a mix of known and
unknown [actors],” he says. Though some would consider the casting of
newcomer, Joseph Benjamin, opposite Genevieve a risk, Ali-Balogun
doesn’t see it that way. “I felt that what I needed from the actor was
potential. I saw the potential in him and I was able to groom him to do
exactly what I wanted. To a large extent he was able to interpret the
role the way I wanted. One of the reasons why I went for him was the
fact that we must begin to build new stars. There is nothing wrong in
using the same faces all over but part of my contribution is to help
raise new people that can become the stars of tomorrow. That’s why I
had a mix of people known and who are upcoming.”

Projecting Lagos

Ali-Balogun also
explains why Lagos is prominently depicted in the movie. “It’s a
deliberate projection of my country, particularly Lagos because movie
is a tool we can use to project ourselves. A lot of transformation is
going on in Nigeria, in Lagos where I live, and one could not but
appreciate and support the federal and state governments in
transforming the nation. There are still issues that we need to solve
but there are certain aspects that are working. Why don’t we extol
those aspects rather than show negatives all the time? It is not
propaganda material, it’s a creative thing; but in the process. I
infused some of the good things happening. It’s my own way of using
film to project Nigeria and Lagos.”

Lead actress Genevieve Nnaji, plays a ballet teacher in Tango With Me but is ballet that popular in Nigeria?

“The ballet dance
is used as a metaphor. Tango is a dance that involves two people and
marriage or any relationship involves two or more people. The title in
that regard is a metaphor for marriage,” says Ali-Balogun.

Appreciative producer

Tango With Me had
six nominations at this year’s Africa Movie Academy Awards but didn’t
win in any of the categories. How does the director feel about it?

“Anyone nominated
for anything, particularly awards, is as good as winning. The
nomination is good for the film in the sense that it shows that it is
above average, it shows that it could have won but the films that won
just have some slight edge over it. In a situation where there were
over 360 entries and you are in the last five, that’s great. Anybody
could have won but I’m sure individual preferences would come in
because I’ve been on juries at film festivals and individual
preferences would come. I appreciate the nomination and I’m sure maybe
next time we will win something. It’s a great honour to have been
nominated at all. That you are nominated does not mean you must win,
the nomination shows that one has done a good job,” says Ali-Balogun.
He adds that he is currently working on ensuring that the movie is well
distributed; and that he gets a good return on his investment.

Tango With Me premieres today at the Silverbird Galleria, Lagos, at 6pm.