Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - [UPDATED] The Toyin Falola Interviews: A Conversation with Tunde Kelani (Podcast, Part 1)

Interesting conversations especially with reference to the questions of power and of modernity that Ken started with. I have not seen a lot of TK's films but is there anywhere he represented power beyond Foucault's micro-physics of the power of individuals over other individuals and focuses on class power or international power relations under the domination of racist-imperialist-patriarchy? 

It may be that it is difficult to represent such macro physics of power on screen using the modernist techniques of film-making that seeks to show rather than tell with a focus on the lives of individuals. But such grand canvases as the Battle of Algiers, Glory, and Cry Freedom, give us hope that Kelani may tackle topics like the struggle for the restoration of independence, the Women's War, Abeokuta Women's Uprising, the anti-apartheid struggle, Pray the Devil Back to Hell, #BringBackOurGirls, and #EndSARS or tackle the biopics of the larger than life characters whose biographies are articulated with the historical events across Africa.

The same applies to the topic of modernization given that the West no longer lays claim to being the index with which all others are measured in a world where the gadgets of modernity are manufactured in Asia and African immigrants are more highly educated than the average westerner deluded with the social and psychological wages of white supremacy. 

For those who are interested in the three dimensions of power debate (to which I may add a fourth dimension - the expression of power as the people mobilized to achieve a common goal, as in Amandla! Ngawethju!), see the work of Steve Luke: Three‐Dimensional Power: A Discussion of Steven Lukes' Power: A Radical View

Three‐Dimensional Power: A Discussion of Steven Lukes' Power: A Radical ... Lukes' third dimension of power exists where people are subject to domination and acquiesce in that domination. ...

On Thursday, 3 December 2020, 09:54:51 GMT-5, Olusegun Olopade <bcmanager@toyinfalolanetwork.org> wrote:

The Toyin Falola Interviews: A Conversation with Tunde Kelani (Podcast, Part 1)

https://toyinfalolanetwork.org/the-toyin-falola-interviews-a-conversation-with-tunde-kelani/

https://toyinfalolanetwork.org/category/toyin-falola-interviews/

This podcast features Kenneth Harrow, a distinguished Emeritus Professor of English at Michigan State University, United States, leading the interview. Professor Harrow working for many years on African cinema and literature, diaspora and post-colonial studies.  He has published major books, including Threshold of Change in African literature; Less than one than double: a feminist reading of African women's writing; Thrash: a story of Africans' cinema viewed from below. Ken Harrow posed a series of questions to Tunde Kelani on various issues around power and the forms of power, as always characterized in his movies, especially "Saworoide".

            Tunde Kelani referenced Fela Anikulapo Kuti's song, where he described the various forms of power and how power can be used, from the leader to the led. "Everyone has been a victim of power."

            He further explained the various aspects of modernity as described in his movie, "Abeni." "The more you are delineated from your own culture, as a result of cultural-vacuum, anything can follow." Kelani confessed that the United State is diverse in culture, and most Africans pick the outrageous aspects of it when they travel out and back.

            Kelani talked about the invasion of American culture in Africa – that Africans no longer need to travel to America before they dress like them, speak like them and behave like them. There is now a reversion in culture from his own younger days. "At that time, we could not even attend an interview without a tie in the neck, but the problem was, I don't know how to tie it, and I don't want to learn it.."

            Tunde Kelani jokingly confessed he has apologized to God for wearing western suit.  

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https://toyinfalolanetwork.org/the-toyin-falola-interviews-a-conversation-with-tunde-kelani/

Tunde Kelani is a renowned film maker, storyteller, director, photographer, cinematographer, and a movie producer. He studied Art and Technique of Filmmaking in the London International Film School, where he bagged his Diploma.

He is a promoter of Nigerian cultural heritage, and his movies have promoted and educated viewers about Nigeria's culture. After several successful years in the Nigerian Film Industry, Kelani founded Mainframe Film & Television Productions, which was formed to document the rich culture of Nigeria, in movies.

Tunde Kelani has received several awards and recognitions in honour of his boundless works in film production and script writing.

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