TK at 70: An interview with Túndé Kèlání

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Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 The Raspberry Pi is a series of simple computers the size of a visa card, developed in the United Kingdom by the Raspberry Pi foundation to promote the learning of basic computer science world-wide.

2 A traditional spiritual system of the Yorùbá people.

3 Mainframe Productions Òpọ́múléró ti gbé tuntun dé o. … Ba a ba ko ni a koni a fi da ra le garaga. Sinimá tuntun Sídí Ìlújinlè, video ọmọge awélẹ́wà obírin eyín mẹ́nugún, abe eyín funfun lábẹ́ ẹnu, ẹwà rẹ̀ ń dá mi lọ́rùn ojàre. Bó ti ńṣe tísà Ọlákúnlé ọ̀mọ̀wé tó fẹ́ fi Sídí ṣe aya ìgbàlódé, bẹ́ẹ̀ ló ń ṣe Baroka, Baalẹ̀ Ìlújinlẹ̀, tó fẹ́ fi Sídí kún dúkìyá. Ọlákúnlé l’óòwun lẹ̀ dojú kọ iná ọ̀run ọ̀run àpáàdì. Baroka ẹkùn ní bí kún ló ni oko ni, bí pàkuúté ni, ìpàdé di ọjọ ọ̀la ojàre. Ire dé! Ire dé!! Ire dé o!!! Iré wọ Ìlújinlè. Ire dé! Ire dé!! Aishat Onitiri, Ibrahim Shatar, Adebayo Salami, Lanre Hassan àti àwọn óṣéré jànkàn jànkàn, ló kópa nínú sinimá tuntun láti ọwọ́ TK Kèlání, ekú ojú l’ónà o [our translation].

4 It is necessary to clarify that the radio programme through the technology of Raspberry Pi suffered serious disruption in December 2017 on account of unforeseen and extreme petrol scarcity in Nigeria which paralyzed all forms of activities. For the same reason, the December schedule for the release of Sídí Sídí Sídí Ìlújinlè could not materialize, although Kèlání’s resourcefulness ensured the release of the film in early 2018. As Kèlání informed us in a follow-up conversation shortly before the production of the final version of this interview transcript particularly with respect to the radio programme, ‘Things were so bad that the Radio shut down and all the programmes and exciting appropriation of technology for a people’s radio remains suspended’. The disruption itself underscores the disruptive political economy that dictates performance and result in Nollywood. It at the same time highlights the peculiarity of challenges that Nollywood film producers and directors confront in their determination to project and sustain a global brand.

5 Reference to where the Yorùbá [deity?] spirit Èsù lives.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Research Council of Norway under the grant Research Programme on Welfare, Working Life and Migration (VAM), and through the project Transnationalism from Above and Below: Migration Management and How Migrants Manage (MIGMA), project number 247622.