How famed filmmaker Biyi Bandele died – Report

Little over two years after the passing of renowned novelist, playwright, and filmmaker Biyi Bandele, new details regarding his death have emerged.

On 9 August 2022, PREMIUM TIMES reported that Bandele died in Lagos at the age of 54. Temi Bandele, his daughter, announced his death in a statement but did not disclose the cause.

In a report published on Sunday, The Guardian UK revealed that Bandele committed suicide in August 2022.

The paper further noted that Bandele ended his life a day after a conversation with his editor, Hannah Chukwu, about his novel, ‘Yorùbá Boy Running’ in early April 2022.

Following their discussion, the paper said he sent his editor a revised version of the manuscript before he committed suicide.

“On the following day, the 54-year-old filmmaker, playwright and novelist took his own life,” the newspaper reported.

It continued, “He left behind an impressive and strikingly varied body of work: the film adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun, which took seven years to make; stage versions of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko and Lorca’s Yerma; poetry, screenplays and several novels including 2007’s Burma Boy, which told the story of his father’s harrowing and brutal experiences as a British army soldier in the second world war.”

Bandele’s ‘Yorùbá Boy Running’ chronicles the life of Samuel Àjàyí Crowther, who navigated a harrowing journey in the 19th century. Crowther’s life unfolded from abduction and enslavement to abandonment in Sierra Leone, ultimately leading to his return to Nigeria.

His journey culminated in a distinguished career in the clergy, where he made history as the first Black bishop ordained by the Anglican Church.

Background

Bandele was born in Kafanchan, Kaduna State, to parents from Abeokuta, Ogun State. He pursued his passion for the arts by studying Dramatic Arts at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) in Ile Ife.

His talent was recognised when he won the BBC Playwriting Competition, after which he relocated to England, where he built a successful career as a writer.

Before his death, he directed and adapted the screenplay for ‘Elesin Oba: The King’s Horseman’ in 2022, a film based on Wole Soyinka’s classic drama, ‘Death and the King’s Horseman.’

This adaptation was produced for EbonyLife Films and released on 28 October 2022. The film was produced by Mo Abudu, James Amuta, Judith Audu-Foght, Adeola Osunkojo, and Heidi Uys, and was distributed by Netflix.

The film featured a talented cast, including Odunlade Adekola, Shaffy Bello, Deyemi Okanlawon, Omowunmi Dada, Jide Kosoko, Kevin Ushi, Jenny Stead, and Mark Elderkin, among others.

Prior to this, Bandele co-directed Blood Sisters, a four-part Netflix original drama series, also produced by EbonyLife Films.

Bandele’s earlier works include Half of a Yellow Sun (Shareman Media & State Films, 2013), adapted from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s acclaimed novel of the same title, and Fifty (Ebony Films, 2015).

He also directed the highly successful television series SHUGA: What’s Your Reality. In addition, he helmed the TV special documentary FELA – Father of Afrobeat in 2018 for the BBC, as well as his self-produced TV-movie documentary, Africa States of Independence in 2010.

Bandele’s body of work encompasses both fiction and non-fiction. Notably, he wrote The Street, Burma Boy, a novel that recreates the experiences of his father and other veterans of the Second World War who served in Burma and India.

His other written works include The Man Who Came in from the Back of Beyond, The Sympathetic Undertaker, and Yoruba Boy Running, which he completed and submitted for publication.