A versatile actor, writer and filmmaker, Mr Adetokunbo Shittu, whose new movie ‘Atunwa’ is set for the big screens spoke to ROTIMI IGE about his journey into theatre and film making. He also revealed how his movies are created for societal impact.
You have a new film ready for cinemas ‘Atunwa’. Tell us about it.
‘Atunwa’ is a film steeped in African world view as pertaining to life, action and rewards. It’s a fictional drama based on Odu Ifa Irosun Meji, which tells of a merchant, Eleko Iderein the primordial times. She, in ‘Atunwa’, re incarnates to the modern day Lagos Island to pay for her actions in the previous life. The film shows, from the African viewpoint, human interconnectedness and the inevitability of rewards for every deed.
Movies now try to mirror society and challenge certain narratives, how does the storyline of your new body of work relate?
‘Atunda’ tackles the many anomalous happenings in our society from the traditional African/Yoruba angle. It shows a family in disarray and exposes the cause in the action of Kemi Oye. This provides a fresh perspective to appraising many events that have often been treated with levity. So, the story of ‘Atunwa’ grew from the understanding that life as it is, needs to be taken with more holistic seriousness, as was the norm in the glorious ages of African civilization.
Making movies in Nigeria comes with its peculiar challenges. What did you face on set?
The challenges faced on set include having to complete shoot within a stipulated time to accommodate the work schedule of cast and crew. This coupled with time restriction on used location also necessitated a strenuous work plan. But on the whole, it was a worthwhile experience thanks to the unbreakable team spirit. Apart from those, it was a sweet experience that I won’t forget for a while.
How can these challenges be overcome?
Proliferation of skills in aspects of film making, and building of film villages to accommodate the need for iconic and exquisite film locations, are some. This is an area of investment which film entrepreneurs and devote some funds to with good assurance of return on investment. The private properties being used to shoot movies to hardly come for free too. And, in my opinion, government has a lot of work to do to hone the many benefits of the film medium through meaningful investment in infrastructure and provision of adequate loan facilities that will enable private individuals build the needed facilities.
You are also theatre trained. Critics say making movies are easier and make more profit. Do you agree?
As one who has had experience in both fields, I dare say both come with their own challenges. Live theatre entails long periods of rehearsal, design and preparation, so is film preproduction processes, the meetings, location scouting, in some cases, strenuous rehearsals, and so on. The production phase too is drought with airtight scheduling, heavy and tedious setups, and the need to get every shot and moments right in order not to create a problem in post-production. Both ventures are equally lucrative, depending on scale and vision.
Do you think theatre productions can once again, become mainstream in Nigeria? If yes, how?
Yes… This is my opinion, please. Theatre production can become mainstream if the factors standing against its survival are addressed. There’s a need for depoliticising of policy formulating bodies which determine the survival or otherwise of theatre. If government engages trained professionals in the management and administration of art and culture related ministries and parastatals, gives them a free hand to operate, charges them to make the venture viable, profitable and self-sustaining, and harnesses the potentials of culture and tourism, live theatre will bounce back. Nigeria has so many festivals attracting tourists from across the globe, but no effort has been geared towards incorporating live theatre into them. The issue of security is also key. The theatre receded to the safety of university campuses following the insecurity of life and property during the military era. The plunge in national economy was a nail to the coffin then, but the resolute persistence of few theatre troupes and houses are enough proof that there’s still hope. More just needs to be done to make the sector come alive again.
Do you still engage in theatre productions? Which would you say you enjoy directing the most in movies or theatre?
I honestly still look forward to directing good theatre pieces that would worth the effort. I enjoyed directing live theatre for the instant gratification of immediate audience reaction! That thing can make a man’s head swell! A house full of responsive audience can be satisfying beyond expression. I however enjoy film more now. Film allows you to reach larger audiences, and the magic of cuts and edits can help one remove the undesirable and retain the beautiful. One can also chose to retell and rework a film story in post-production if necessary. One can even downplay a character or story element, to achieve a completely different result, live theatre? It is wait and get. That’s why film is the director’s medium, while theatre is the writer’s medium, and as a director, I love the film medium more.
Sorting characters for a movie can be quite challenging. What informed your choice of characters for your movie and why?
The nature of the script, and the projected audiences, informed my choice of cast. The script requires actors that, beyond having the necessary, mental, physical and vocal qualities needed, are conversant with the Yoruba language. Beyond that, the final output has to appeal to the generality of the Nigerian and international audience, so, there was need to strike a balance. My casting team and I, decided to select actors from different cultural background, but with proficiency in Yoruba and English languages, and the rest is history.
Critics opine that skit makers are taking the shine off properly trained actors who have put in work to hone their craft. Many movie producers also now feature popular skit makers to make their movies instant hits. What’s your opinion about this and what does it portend for the industry?
Skit making has been a major, but often overlooked aspect of the performing arts. Theatre survived the dark ages thanks to the activities of itinerant theatre troupes whose performances were often segmented into improved skit forms.
Comic skits were also very useful methods of training in drama and theatre schools, called Lafuta Don Gas where I graduated from. But, graduates and apprentices of theatre and film often abandon this genre to people who have had exposures to performance either through observation or belonging to drama groups in their churches.
So, they’re basically filling a vacuum, and doing so, they’ve attained enough audience appeal to share a space in the industry. Producers will cast skit makers for the audience appeal, but would hardly do so for technical consideration. The art, the science and the business of film must always work together for success.
You have also been involved in advocacy projects. Does this give you personal satisfaction to know that you are impacting society?
Yes. In my opinion, art for art’s sake is bad art. A film should impact society in meaningful ways that improve it. African communities used to have folktale session at night, under the moonlight, where elders passed meaningful life skills and knowledge to the younger ones in form of narrative and poetic and musical renditions. Film is our medium today, it’s our tales by moonlight, it’s our means of passing information from experts on certain things that improve knowledge and life in general. Film can be used more for teaching, enlightening and raising social awareness on health, civic and political issues, to mention a few.
