Today marks the release of “Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti,” directed by Bolanle Austen-Peters. The film, which explores the life of the iconic Nigerian activist, has generated great buzz. Actress Omowunmi Dada, who stars in the movie, appeared as a celebrity guest on TVC to share her experiences, including the physical challenges she faced and the joy she had during filming.
During the interview, Omowunmi Dada expressed her enthusiasm and the honour she felt being part of a film that sheds light on the life and legacy of Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti. She spoke about the moment she was called for the role, the intense scenes involved in portraying the role, and the huge support they got from the Egba women.
“It was such a beautiful experience since the day BAP called me about the movie and showed me the script about Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti. I was happy and I said it was about time, and it was a huge disservice to Nigerians by the educational system to sell Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti only as the first woman who drove a car. There is so much more to her—her values, what she stood for, her doggedness, her zeal, her strength. She died fighting the Nigerian government for a better life for Nigerians, and it transcended from her to her children, her grandchildren till date.”
Speaking on the intense and emotional process involved in the film, she said, “When you are telling an iconic story you get carried away, especially when it has to do with activism, There was a scene, on set we had over 500 women from Abeokuta. Egba women stood up and stood out for us. A lot of them were not actors; they didn’t even want to be paid. The fact that we were telling the story was just enough for them.”
“And we had the Parakois who were like the palace guards in real-time. They would beat the women as we saw in the teaser we just watched, and they started to beat us. These people were actors and all that, but somehow realism and reality are interconnected, and before we knew it when BAP said action, they had to make it real, so some of them really even beat us and we were sustaining wounds. But we just wanted them to continue, and by the time they were done, a lot of us were crying, real tears, not from pain but it took us to that moment that, if this is acting and we can feel it this way, I can imagine what these women must have gone through. They did not stop; they stood to the end and they won the war, although some of them lost the battle as well. But they stood till the end and at the end of the day the Alake left for us, he was dethroned, and life became better for Egba women, and Nigerian women in general. I sustained some injuries then, but it didn’t matter because the story needed to be told.”
Omowunmi Dada revealed the raw emotions conveyed in “Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti” and the impact it had on them, “When we had crying scenes where they took them to jail, the moment BAP said action we just wept because it was like we were there, we could feel their pains.”
Promise Babatunde
