DISCOVERING A PIONEER:
THE CINEMA OF OLA BALOGUN
This publication aims to initiate a rediscovery of the filmic work of Nigerian film director Ola Balogun, who between 1972 and 1982 wrote, produced and directed ten feature films that can be considered one of the lasting achievements of African and particularly Nigerian cinema.
"Let's face it: Without Ola Balogun, the audiovisual culture of Nigeria (at least that of the nation's southern regions) would most probably look different. How? – who knows. Maybe not even fundamentally so, for one of the most important things Balogun did was to simply tap the sources, work with art forms already very much alive, most importantly the Yoruba traveling theater culture. And more. There's always an "and" and a "but" often followed by an "also" when it comes to describing, defining the vast and aesthetically widely varying œuvre of Balogun, an auteur who worked in several languages (Balogun made films in English, Yoruba and Igbo) and also used a variety of artistic approaches..." (Olaf Möller, extract from the essay to be published in the book)
Balogun directed the first feature film in Igbo language in 1975 with AMADI and the first film ever in Yoruba language, the masterpiece AJANI-OGUN (1976), which also is considered as the first African musical film. Two years later, he was the first black filmmaker to direct a feature film in Brazil with A DEUSA NEGRA (Black Goddess, 1978; from its soundtrack by Remi Kabaka stems the melody you are – hopefully – currently listening to…). In CRY FREEDOM (1981), he expressed with incomparable clarity and daringness the strive of the African people for independence and freedom of colonial oppression. His last feature film dates back to 1982, MONEY POWER, a still powerful and entertaining satire about the omnipresent corruption and how it can be overcome by love.
In each of these feature films, Balogun employs a beautiful soundtrack to create a magical and enchanted cinematic space (the soundtrack for MONEY POWER was written by Shina Peters, the creator of Afro Juju, who also plays the lead role).
From the mid 1980s on, he increasingly turned to documentary work and created some of the most impressing works about the culture and tradition of Nigeria, such as THE MAGIC OF NIGERIA (1994).
Apart from his filmic work, he is a prolific author, having written books on Nigeria culture (Nigeria: Magic of a Land) and theatre plays.
WHAT IS THIS PROJECT ABOUT?
This worldwide first publication on the filmic work of Ola Balogun aims to initiate a rediscovery of Balogun's work and likewise to raise interest in the pre-Nollywood film production in Nigeria, an important chapter in African film history which yet has never before been dealt with in a film publication.
This publication will feature
- an extensive biographical essay written by Balogun's wife and long-time collaborator Françoise Balogun (in French and English translation) recalling the joys and troubles of each film's shooting and giving a rich cultural and historical background
- a total of six further essays by authors such as Olaf Möller, Jonathan Haynes, Nikolaus Perneczky, elaborating on certain aspects of Balogun's filmography and analyzing certain films in depth
- an extensive picture gallery, mostly previously unpublished images
- a detailed, commented filmography
- a bibliography
One of the tragedies regarding Balogun – apart from him being unjustly neglected when speaking about African cinema – is the fact that five of his ten feature films are currently lost and not available for viewing. Therefore the publication will try to recreate the "lost" films as good as possible, e.g. by giving extensive summaries and providing picture galleries.
The book will feature a vast amount of photo material - almost entirely previously unpublished – and an aesthetically appealing arrangement of photos, slides and scanned film frames.
Finally, the book will contain a commented and meticulously researched filmography, so as to provide future film programmers and researchers with all information required.
The book is currently in the final editing process and if the required amount is raised it can be printed by the end of January. It originates in the retrospective that was organized in Frankfurt/Main in July/August 2015 on occasion of Ola Balogun's 70th anniversary and that was done in collaboration with the Cinémathèque française in Paris.
ABOUT THE EDITOR
In the two and a half years since its foundation, the Filmkollektiv Frankfurt has already published five publications, among them on Slovene filmmaker Karpo Godina (first ever publication) and Hungarian filmmaker Miklós Jancsó, the latter the first English-language publication on Jancsó since over thirty years.
We are driven by our passion to discover or rediscover moments in the movie history that are worthy of our reassessment and renewed praise.
WHAT WILL THE MONEY BE USED FOR?
With the amount of 4.000,00 € secured, we will be able to pay the graphic design of the book and the printing costs for an (partly colored) edition of 500 copies. In that case, the book will be printed and ready for delivery by beginning of February.
SOME OF THE REWARDS...
that are described in the right side panel:
Risks and challenges
The challange will be to properly distribute the book and to make sure that everybody interested in this topic will have the possibility to hear about it.
In order to ensure this, we will try to spead word about this book by mouth-to-mouth propaganda, newsletters and the presentation of the book at diverse festivals, e.g. the Cinema Ritrovato in Bologna.
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