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Celebrated actor, producer and film-maker, Kunle Afolayan, in a recent interaction with journalists at a U.S Consulate event spoke on how he has successfully metamorphosed into a global stakeholder in the film industry, while shedding light on the Kunle Afolayan Productions (KAP) Academy’s partnership with the U.S. Consulate to train young cinematographers and directors. ROTIMI IGE brings excerpts.
Tell us about the new edition of ‘Reel Circle’, held in partnership with the United States embassy. Why now?
We’ve always wanted to have a new edition, but we’ve been busy. We just wrapped up the shoot of our Anikulapo series, seasons two and three, which took about two months. Before then, we were doing the post-production for another film. So, we’ve been busy, but then, when this opportunity to partner with the U.S. embassy came, we thought it would be nice to merge ‘Reel Circle’ with the capacity building program because our focus is young people and those who are in training. ‘Reel Circle’ is actually for everybody. But since it’s a platform for discussion, and most of the people who really need some of this information are young people, we just thought it would be nice to merge the two.
You shared a lot of stories in your time as a filmmaker. Do you think that these young filmmakers will take it as part of the core training process?
Whether they take it or not, you still need to tell them. It’s like raising a child. If you’re raising two, or three children and you tell them the same thing, they will take it differently. So, it’s the same. For me, it’s the same learning process. Some of them are in this genuinely, some of them just think it’s a place where they can make a quick name. But I think the onus is on us to ensure that we pass as much information, and as much knowledge as possible regardless of whether they listen or not.
What percentage of these 20 young filmmakers that succeed would you say is a success for the initiative?
Even if it’s one. This is just one initiative. We have another partnership with the French Embassy which we are going to do in two weeks. We just concluded one with a German company. We’ve done one with Mastercard Foundation, where we’ve trained about 10,000 students, e-learning and all of that. So, this is not like something new. And like I said earlier, some of the people we’ve trained now work, they’ve worked on several projects that we’re doing and we’ve done, and some of them even work permanently in-house. So, for me, that is a success story. Even if you have 100 people graduate from a department in a school, not every one of them will have a distinction.
How do you select the participants, how do they qualify?
We throw it open. It’s online, so people put in their CVs and we also look at what they’ve done because there are different grades. So, for this, it is cinematographers and directors. We’re looking for people who have done things, not beginners. We’ve done programs that focus on beginners, and we’ve done some that are, more advanced. We did one in partnership with Netflix and University of Southern California and it was in post-production, but post-production for people who have done advanced work.
There was an issue raised by Tunde Kelani about the fact that there are not enough female cinematographers. Can you share your thoughts on that?
Cinematography is like a man’s work because they carry things, they lift things, they move like men. You have to be agile. But if you want to slay with long nails, you can’t do that. That is why most of the female cinematographers you see are mostly like tomboys. Apart from make-up and other such disciplines, anything technical like cinematography, lighting, grip, all those things require a lot of energy.
Do you think that this training is enough for any cinematographer or filmmaker to go into the world with? Or do they need to go beyond that?
They need more. This is just like a master class and that’s why I said this is not for beginners. This is for people who are already working, it’s for you to broaden your knowledge or see it from a different perspective.
Are you saying there’s not a big future for regular females in cinematography?
No. Cinematography is one of several fields and areas of expertise in film. The reality is that how many women want to stay behind the camera to shoot? They want to be in front, it’s always been like that. It’s like you saying how many female welders do we have? Or vulcanisers? It’s the same.
What informed having some of the scenes of Anikulapo from Nigeria to Ghana?
It’s the story, the journey. Go and read some of my first set of interviews about Anikulapo, I said it there. This is a journey that will take us from the pre-colonial era to colonial era to post-colonial era. So, it’s a journey. We were coming from pre-colonial era. Now, we have got into colonial era. So, it’s a journey, just follow it.
John Boyega, a Holloywood actor was speaking recently about some concerns that came up with Nigeria when the location decisions for ‘Woman King’ were being made. Can you comment on that?
There is this idea that something has to be done by Americans before it makes sense. It’s a wrong narrative. I saw ‘Woman King’, If I were to be approached to come and feature in a film like that playing a key role, I’d try to influence certain aesthetics because it’s me. It’s my home, it’s where I’m from. If I’m going back there, the people will ask me questions. So, if I’m asked to talk like a Kenyan playing a Nigerian, I’ll question why. If I’m asked to talk like a Kenyan playing a Nigerian, I’ll question why, and I probably would turn it down.
But then, business is business, it’s his job, he’s an actor. Again, they have a kind of structure that works there. For example, Angelique Kidjo was in the film, she’s part Yoruba and part Dahomey which is the tribe that is being talked about. But when they were talking, she was speaking American accent mixed with African accent. Also, they portrayed the Oyo people as people with turbans. The Oyo people in Women King had turbans, and these are things that I’ll have questioned. But then, like he rightly said, it’s a business, the way it runs there is completely different. So, we that are even making efforts to maybe do it right or make sure certain things are right aesthetically, people should give us credit,
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What’s the next point of call for you as a creative?
Have you been to KAP Village? When you go there, you will not come back to Lagos. You can hold me to that. KAP Village is on 60 acres of land. We have about 70 rooms of hotel accommodation, just like anywhere in South Africa or Kenya. The head office of the academy is going to be there at some point because it’s a big place where film students can do practicals. It is a destination. For me, that’s big. I’m not looking for anything again. All I want to do is grow people, build people, impact more and continue to tell stories.
You’ve been able to successfully merge the show with the business. What’s your secret?
My secret is I’ve been consistent and I’ve been true to myself. Whatever I don’t like, I’ll say I don’t like. What I said I don’t like 20 years ago; I’ll continue to say I don’t like it, and I won’t do it. For me to have achieved this, I’ll say, this much, I must be doing something right. I’m not saying 100 per cent, but I’ve stayed true to my art, I’ve stayed true to my craft and I’ve stayed true to my ideology. It’s very simple. Business is one thing, but you won’t watch my film and say, ‘oh, he got compromised here because he’s doing business.’ No, I’d rather do it more to make sure that even if you’re doing it, you’re seeing it from a product point of view, it’s a product that with a brand, right? I’m not the only filmmaker in Nigeria, there are filmmakers, but if you’re privileged or if you have the grace to start something and you move from one step to the other, higher like that, then it means that you’re on the right path.
