Film Kaku

Taiwo Egunjobi

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Why Directors Should Be Involved in Editing

Directing

As I delve deeper into the art of filmmaking, I’ve developed a new habit of watching films with a critical eye. I’ve discovered that this approach enhances my appreciation of the cinematic experience, especially when it comes to post-production editing and performance modulation. As I continue to re-educate myself about the craft, a few thoughts have coalesced into a cohesive idea that I’d like to share, some of which I have shared in a recent twitter thread. The film audience is a multifaceted entity, seeking both aesthetic and intellectual stimulation. They require two types of dialogue: auditory and visual. While many textbooks on screenwriting focus on auditory dialogue, there hasn’t been enough discussion on the visual dialogue that occurs between the film and the audience’s mind. Cinematography, design, and shot selection play a crucial role in this visual dialogue. Shot selection, in particular, is a potent device that “dialogues with…

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A Letter to Nigerian Actors

Acting

Building a career in acting is a challenging task. This is true everywhere, including the Nigerian film industry. However, as someone who speaks with actors on a daily basis, I think with the right combination of strategies, there are ways for emerging or new actors to successfully navigate this competitive industry. The first and most critical strategy is to get adequate training. Acting is a craft that requires training, whether formal or informal. Legendary actor and director, Robert Redford once said, “Acting is all about honesty. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.” It’s easy to think anyone can act and, maybe that’s true, but not everyone is an actor. The spectacle and occasion of cameras and lights can be overwhelming even for professionals, and yet too many people want to act without getting the necessary training and end up botching the opportunities they get. Training is not…

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Taiwo Egunjobi – Creating In Ibadan

Directing

The following material is an excerpt from In Ibadan film book, A Guide On Making “In Ibadan ” The book contains essays, stories, frames and the screenplay. Here’s a loose overview of the steps that led to the birth of a miracle: As of 2018, I had directed a slew of short films and generally knew my way around the no-budget process. I made too many short films and sketches with friends. Isaac Ayodeji wrote or edited the stories while myself and Kunle Martini Akande shot, edited, and managed the production process. We knew we had the practical skills but we had no real film set experience. Even though we had read horror stories about Nollywood, we wanted to make a film and find out ourselves. So, I outlined a strategy to work with my friend and business partner Isaac to write a no-budget drama and send it to film…

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Korede Azeez – The Star At The Intersection Of Many Worlds

Directing

Filmmaking is a serious craft that strikes deeper than mere interest, or passion, or certain words of affinity coined by several artists to describe their relationship with the art. It is a process of transformation, or in modern language, self-discovery—not just for the artist but also for the spectator who admires the craft. But over the years, we have come to terms with a more critical aspect of this craft; that is filmmaking or cinema becoming an agent of social commentary and change. This unique style of storytelling is seen in titles like Do The Right Thing (Spike Lee), Don’t Look Up (Adam McKay, 2021), The Colour Purple (Steven Spielberg, 1985), Moonlight (Barry Jenkins, 2016), Pad Man (R. Balki, 2018), Slumdog Millionaire (Danny Boyle, 2008), Oloture (Kenneth Gyang, 2016), Eyimofe (Chuks and Arie Esiri, 2021), Saworoide (Tunde Kelani, 1999) and so on. These stories have taken huge strides at resuscitating…

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Lessons from the First: Coming from Insanity Director Akinyemi Sebastian Akinropo shares his story

Directing

A common flaw in films attempting to communicate social ills is the struggle to stay compelling. To compel doesn’t necessarily mean to entertain. These objectives may belong in the same spectrum but there are acute differences. To compel is to suck your audience into a dramatic construct that appeals regardless of its social message. Sucking in your audience is usually achieved with the conveyor belt of drama, comedy, thrill, satire, tragedy, horror, and so on. This is not an easy task for any filmmaker; the clear delineations between bad, good, and great filmmaking are enough evidence. Coming from Insanity by Akinyemi Sebastian Akinropo is an admirable effort that shines the torch on child trafficking but refuses the contemplative hue expected of socially conscious cinema. Rather, it balances muted, topical introspection with the boisterous dynamism of genre work. Perhaps it helps that Coming from Insanity is a true-life story. That the…

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A Serious Man: For Maria Cinematographer David Wyte shares his story

Cinematography

Released in late 2020, For Maria: Ebun Pataki was met with critical acclaim from all over the world. Special praise was reserved for the handling of its adult themes and the acting performances of lead actors, Gabriel Afolayan and Meg Otanwa. Director Damilola Orimogunje admitted to doubts about how his debut effort would be received, especially back home. This was a story that was outside mainstream Nollywood and markedly different from even the supposed arthouse entries. It was not a comedy, not a thriller, or anything suited to the confines of any generic box. This was a story about regular Nigerians, told by artists with something to say, presented with uncommon honesty, and with visual ideas that were foreign to our garish preferences. A lot of these highly acclaimed visual ideas can be traced to David Wyte, a cinematographer with a serious relationship with the craft. David is a quiet…

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An Invitation to the Fourth Wave of Nigerian Cinema

Articles

Since its inception, Nollywood’s image has been embodied by splashy melodrama and vibrant exploitation flicks. But a closer look into the Nollywood expansion into global relevance reveals a new wave on the horizon, one brimming with new possibilities as it questions the choices of old. Below, I expand on the examination of a similarly titled thread I shared on Twitter: The 70s-80s are regarded as the Golden Era of Nigerian Filmmaking and for good reason too. We had about 300 theatres, popular literature adaptations, technical excellence, and high story craft. We had films made by masters like Oladele, Adu, Ogunde, Olaiya, Balogun, Ugbomah, Afolayan, and so on. Notably, these masters were, by training, theatre practitioners and as such, their films retained a certain air of theatricality in performances and were generally unlike the art-house film sensibilities already emergent in francophone African cinema (Touki Bouki, Mandabi, Yeelen). Sadly, most of the…

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Uche Chika Elumelu: the Process of an Actress

Acting

My first experience with Uche’s craft was in the written word. She’d worked on a lengthy profile of a fellow actor and I remember feeling, as I read, that I was touring the mind of a clear thinker. I can only imagine the quality of conversations that take place in her head as she becomes different people across varied platforms. It’s clear Uche is not simply looking to earn her pay and move on to the next set.  Every character she adorns is an interrogation with humanity.  Uche’s rise isn’t a “grass to grace” story. It’s the inevitability of an excellent mind given to the pursuit of more. Be it on stage, screen, or the closed circuit of a WhatsApp group, Uche’s genius, elocution, and wit shine through. Filmkaku had a chat with her about her craft and more. The conversation has been edited for publication purposes. Filmkaku: What inspired…

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Chidinma Igbokweuche Talks Nollydata and the Need To Tell The Nollywood Story

Film Production

In the year 1990, English film fan and computer programmer, Col Needham, started compiling a list of actresses with nice eyes. Together with friends, they later expanded the list to include actors and directors. Thirty years later, what started as a series of leisurely compiled lists is now the Internet Movie Database (IMDb), the largest database of movies and entertainment-related information online. Chidinma Igbokweuche and cofounder, Ibrahim Suleiman, have recently launched something similar— Nollydata, a one-stop source for everything Nollywood. The announcement was made weeks ago on social media and it was greeted with a lot of acceptance. It feels like a timely arrival, like something the industry has needed for so long but hasn’t been able to articulate clearly till now. There have been renewed attempts to document Nollywood in recent times. Film sites and blogs are replete with reviews, articles, and essays, all trying to cover an industry…

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Otana Writer/Director Wingonia Ikpi on Scares, Themes and Blending Agendas in the Horror Genre

Film Production

Fear is the ultimate fuel for the horror genre. It, perhaps, explains why the genre has been used by filmmakers over the years to commentate on the ills of society. It’s no different with Otana, Wingonia Ikpi’s ambitiously directed short film. It tells the story of Peace, a young lady suffering intense sexual trauma, who bonds with a demon from hell over the ambiguities of pain and vengeance. The roughly 25 minutes short tells the story of sexual assault and its attendant traumas with the graphicness that ensures the timely message is branded into the psyche of audiences. Nollywood has been accused of staleness by many outsiders but Wingonia’s provocative sensibilities could be the shake-up the industry desperately needs in times like this. The FilmKaku team had a quick chat with the filmmaker about Otana, her filmic philosophy, influences, and plans for the future. The transcript of the conversation was…

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