A Review of The iREP Xchange 4th Edition

So, uhm, yesterday, I was at the iREP Xchange, held at Freedom Park, Onikan, Lagos. It’s a monthly documentary screening event, where contemporary and archival documentary films about the Nigerian heritage and history, are shown…. I got an invite to the British Council powered event, from a colleague and new-found friend, Adebimpe Adebambo, an über cool visual artist.

The event was billed to start by 6pm. It kicked off by roughly 6.30pm. And Jahman Anikulapo, a seasoned writer, film maker, and cultural archivist, was the anchor on the night. The first film to be screened was a medley of different defining periods in the timeline of Nigeria’s existence as a political entity, from the amalgam…in 1914, till date.

After this film’s screening, Jahman talked about how documentaries were not being embraced by the younger generation. And how their interest could be won over by producing docudramas, instead. Next was a brief speech from a rep of the British Council. He praised the efforts of the Council in preserving and restoring archival films…. He also eulogized the endeavours of the two sages and guest speakers in the house: (the two Bayos) Bayo Awala, and Bayo Adepetun. So, Bayo Awala is a veteran film maker, and Bayo Adepetun is a seasoned composer and sound designer. It was really a privilege to have them speak, on the night. But before that.

Three more documentaries were screened. The first being a medley of the cultural heritage of Northern Nigeria. This film dates back to the mid 30’s. The second was the marquee film of the night *(or so we thought). This Film, titled “Footprints” was more of a docudrama. It was shot in the 30’s. And it chronicles the efforts an Igbo community in Udi, Enugu State, made to build a maternity center for the first time ever, despite opposition from rabble-rousers.

I want to specially thank the British Council for making this film available. It was wonderful seeing a group of people from my ethnicity, do something quite remarkable in such a time as that. For me, that is the closest I have come to seeing, in motion pictures, what life was really like back then in Igboland. It was an emotional moment for me.

After this screening, the third film to be screened, was a short film (“a short-short film” as Bimpe would call it). Yeah! It was that short. The kind you blink and miss. The film, titled “Mamiwata”, was produced by Nyancho NwaNri, a cultural enthusiast, film maker, photographer, and poet. By her explanation, the film was all about showing the duality of the ocean, as a mother with two sides to her: calm and yet aggressive. Nyancho sees a romantic relationship between the ocean and the sun: whereby the ocean is evapourated by the sun, and they co-habit for a while, and the ocean returns to its place. Hence, as powerful as the ocean is, it depends on the sun to sustain its existence. Quite an interesting analogy, I tell you.

*The Mamiwata short film dethroned Footprints as the marquee film of the night. It caused so much controversy, surprisingly not because of its theme, but because of its duration. The thought of this irony alone was so funny, I nearly laughed my socks off.

Bayo Awala was then introduced to speak. He talk about how film making in Nigeria used be like in the past, in comparison to the present day Nollywood. He also dwelt on the issue of the home video era pioneers taking the glory of being the pioneers of Nollywood. He pointed out categorically that the solution to this issue, was for film makers to stop seeing themselves as pioneers at all.

He also reminisced about how challenging it was producing a film back then. There were issues ranging from, poor logistics, to dearth of equipment. Paraphrasing his words: “to shoot a film back then was quite tough, especially at the time when Éko bridge was being built.”

Lest I commit a blunder, I have to mention that Laide Agunbiade, a Hollywood-based veteran visual effects artist was present; Francis Onwochei, a seasoned film maker and actor was present; James Omokwe, an ace young director was also present. Other highly rated stakeholders in the industry, were present on the night too.

At this point, Laide asked what Bayo Awala thought about the state of film distribution in the industry. And Bayo’s response was a huge reminder of how dire the situation…is at the moment.

With that, Bayo Adepetun, whose talk I had patiently and eagerly been waiting for, took the floor. He talked about sound production in Nollywood films of years past. He started out in sound production, during his days as a medical student in England, just about the time the Musical Instrument Digital Interface technology, MIDI was launched. A good omen, I guess.

From his explanation, Bayo Adepetun worked mainly on jingles on his return to Nigeria. He later ventured into sound designing, after he had worked on one of Bayo Awala’s films. His foray into sound designing started his transition to movie scoring. And years later he finds himself producing the original score for The Wedding Party 1, and now, 2. Bayo talked about the hilarious encounters he’s had with terrible and poor movie sound designing, sound mixing and scoring, in the industry, and how to tackle such issues. He rounded off by talking about an upcoming collaboration of sound designers, sound editors, sound mixers, composers, sound effects producers, and experts in sound surround 5.1 to 9.4 production, in order to form a cooperative. One that will take the industry to dizzying heights.

Now, to the pros and cons of The iREP Xchange 4th edition. From what I observed, the pros for me would be *the willingness to discuss and proffer pragmatic solutions to the issues withholding Nollywood from reaching its full potential. *The fact that iREP has been able to pool top stakeholders who are versed in the knowledge and experience of film making, is also a huge plus.

The cons would be that *there weren’t much young people in attendance as one would have expected. This issue should be addressed in relation to content and timing. *The timing of the event should be reviewed. Not every
person would be willing to go for an event on Monday by 6pm. Especially those living on the Mainland. I live in Ikorodu and it was quite tasking meeting up with time to and fro the event. A friend of mine even refused to come along because of the timing of the event.

As a young person myself, I’m pleading that something positive be done about the timing, so that my friends won’t have to miss subsequent editions.

*In terms of content, I will like to suggest that the presence of Laide Agunbiade and BB Sasore (director of Banana Island Ghost) in the country be used to our advantage. In this edition, Nyancho NwaNri was the only young speaker on the podium. But this could be bettered by inviting (in the 5th edition) Laide Agunbiade and BB Sasore to give a talk on the role Visual Effects can play in moving Nollywood forward. I’m pretty sure more young people will show up at the event, because of this.

Imagine an edition were archival films on special effects during the days of Hubert Ogunde and Co, is screened alongside Kola Olarewaju of Komotion Studios’ “Dawn of Thunder”, and excerpts of Banana Island Ghost. It will really interest and pull more young people to attend the 5th edition of The iREP Xchange.