A few weeks back, Ace Cinematographer, Tunde Kelani, was our guest on one of our City People TV Live Chats. It was a delight to have this great Nigerian, who is as simple as many creative thinkers. When we asked him for his prefix he simply said just call me T.K. I am T.K. I don’t have any title I use.”
What explains his simplicity and humility? We asked him. “Everybody knows me. I am just an ordinary person, doing what I love to do. I like the community. I love people. Everybody is close to me. I love to be in our family compound in Abeokuta. Everything I stand for is the continuous dialogue between me and the community. That is the work I do. Its for the masses. I am one of the masses and the dialogue continuous in all I do. Sometimes, the way I like to test if this dialogue is intact is if I sing an old Yoruba song to the community I will wait for the chorus from them or if they sing along, then I will know they know the song. So, its a continuous dialogue till today and it will be there for ever.
How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected his job and that of the creative industry.’ How did he take the bad news? How did he hear the bad news? “It is not just about how COVID-19 affected the creative industry, its about how it affected humanity. Suddenly, we are too arrogant, as human being, we think we know everything. Even men of God think they have answers to everything. Covid-19 came so suddenly. that all of us we were totally unprepared. And we had Great plans. On January eve, everybody made his/her plans. We didn’t think or imagine that something would come and turn our lives upside down and completely. We are faced with the challenges of going on with life. And it shows the ignorance of our leaders and experts everyday I listen to them on talk about people in the community not complying, obeying the letter the rules and what immediately comes to mind is the fact that I don’t think they are close to the communities.
They imagine that everybody is comfortably accommodated in 8-bedroom, 10-bedroom mansion or flats. You don’t even need to go far. If you go to any of our cities, if you go to the right or left you will find yourself in the middle of the masses. Our leaders find it difficult to imagine that in a typical house 18 persons queue up to use a bathroom or the toilet. And they do that on a daily basis. When they talk about keeping the hygiene, washing hands regularly, do they know that there is not even WATER at all. They have to buy water on a daily basis and there is no Electricity. Our leaders need to move around and experience how the masses live.
The lesson COVID-19 has taught us is that we have to re-learn. We have to start learning again because everything stopped in the Entertainment. Every project has been arrested. We are just trying to learn to live our lives differently”.
How has COVID-19 affected him, in terms of his projects, in terms of his work? Has it slowed him down in any way? “It is interesting because they say we Elders are the most vulnerable, so we are to protect ourselves we have to stay completely in the house. Some of us with children and grandchildren have to be careful with them so that they don’t bring the virus to you. Most of the time, I am in the house, mostly all alone. That is what I have done for more than 8 weeks, but it is interesting because at the same time, it was a wonderful opportunity to learn things and to continue to advance your knowledge and get into Information Technology (IT) in support of what we are doing.
Before this time, I was surposed to travel to Zambia for training of some students drawn from different parts of Africa. We couldn’t meet but the institution mandated me to conduct it Online, so I had to learn how to present the training Online, set questions, mark the papers, do evaluation Online, give them assignments.
The Lockdown gave us time for little introspection.” What are the projects that he is working on now? “The first thing I am working on is The Ayinla Omowura story-the 40th Anniversary of Ayinla Omowura, he informs Abeokuta. I am from Abeokuta myself. I am fascinated by Ayinla Omowura. We are yet to appreciate the contributions of Anigilaje Ayinla Omowura to music. For the past 3 years, I have been researching. I started to do a documentary film, which is almost done. The narrative film is to follow almost immediately. That is what I am working on now.
I am right here in Abeokuta that city of Ayinla Omowura, the city of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, of Ebenezer Obey, and others. So, I have 3 projects to do. I have the documentary on Ayinla Omowura, then the narration of the story based on the personality and the music of Ayinla Omowura and then the other 2 projects. I am already in production.”
How does he rest? From what we see of T.K he is always busy with one production or the other… “I have been resting since the Lockdown. As a filmmaker, it is terrible. I have been resting permanently all these time.”
What gives T.K fulfillment in what he does? “I don’t think I am fulfilled yet, in that sense, became as a pioneer, I took risks, so many risks. I started off being interested in Photography. Growing up in Abeokuta, there was a lot to do around me. I didn’t know I would be interested in Filmmaking. I was only interested in Photography. I came from Lagos to live in Abeokuta and people were telling me unbelievable stories about the spirit world, the dead world, everything about Yoruba Culture.
