Nollywood still needs help from gov’t – Lancelot

Weekend Magazine: Why is dialogue very much part of the Nigerian movies? Lancelot Imasuen: We as a people talk a lot and very expressive, and with film as a replay of real life, that aspect of us always seems to play out at one point in time. The way we dialogue when we greet is […]

Weekend Magazine: Why is dialogue very much part of the Nigerian movies?

Lancelot Imasuen: We as a people talk a lot and very expressive, and with film as a replay of real life, that aspect of us always seems to play out at one point in time. The way we dialogue when we greet is our nature and it reflects in our movie. The white man’s angle is ‘don’t say the word,  show it’, but our own is that we show the ones we can show and say the ones we can talk. Our nature as Africa and as a people is that we are very expressive. So, we cannot begin to create diversion, because we want to meet certain standards of the way it is. What I find wrong with the world is understanding that this is our own.

WM: Can you say Nollywood has fared better over the past few years in terms of directing?

Imasuen: Let the people judge,   because it wouldn’t sound well for us to judge ourselves by the big works of yesterday and the big works of today and do a comparison. The audience can use the media to be able to assess this aspect and judge thoroughly.

WM: Which of your movies will you consider the best so far?

Imasuen: This is a question I try to avoid, the reason being that you have a lot of children. It doesn’t sound well to say that I love this more than that,   though every work has its own peculiar challenges. There are some works you made which you may not be very happy with, yet comes out very successful. Others are artistically and technically very successful, but they are not commercial success. There are some too that have taken you up on the social ladder. There are some that have improved your financial profile. So, all these are various elements you have to see, but we don’t try to create a disparity between them. There are movies that have remained ever green. Think about it, the film that shot me to national consciousness titled ‘Yesterday’, is the one on female genital mutilation and widowhood rite. Because of the theme, it was very well accepted and   created awareness. It brought attention to this area, nationally and internationally. So, that is always very dear to my heart at this critical point. I have great works which I also want you to research on.

WM: You have been a role model to some young film makers over the years. What were the challenges and how you have been able to overcome them over the years to become who you are?

Imasuen: My strength has always been my confidence and knowledge about who I am, where I am from and the need to be exceptionally different. My slogan is “if the quality is not in it, my name can’t be on it”. So, before you say such a thing, you want to look at what is in that name; what have you been able to mould concerning that name   giving you the impetus to say that if the quality isn’t on it, my name can’t be on it. That is what every young person needs – to make a name. However, today what is very popular is that people want  to make money at all cost at the expense of making a name. I am a living witness of making a good name. I have ministers who are my personal friends on the merit of my name. It is not   for any reason we would have met. They said so, you are Lancelot. People warmly receive you as if they have known you for years. For every young person that is to come into this business, it is very important to strive for perfection. What informs the decision between this name or that name is a good directing. Wherever your name comes, people will receive you with warmth. Not in rivalry. It doesn’t remove the fact that maybe in a business, there could be rivalry, envy, jealousy, but people who are outside could say genuinely, I love this guy’. People should strive for such. It doesn’t come over night. A Dutch man who did a documentary titled ‘Coming Soon’ said ‘the difference between you guys and us, is that here, we fight for names, you guys fight for money’.

The day I heard that, I asked really. They get contented with what they have. The guy wants to be named as the person who discovered this thing. For me, that has been my guiding principle. As a film maker for over 15 years, you see people appreciate the product of your brain and endeavour. So, for every young person to have a lasting survival, you must strive to make a name in whatever field of endeavour. Even the good books says “show me a man that is diligent in his works, he will sit with kings and dine with princesses”. Let everybody who wants to survive be inclined to leaving a legacy behind.

WM: You have also dinned and wined with stars in Hollywood. Are there things that you have picked which have helped you to become who you are?

Imasuen: Sure! I started my romance with them very early. The first place I went to in America was Hollywood. We cannot be saying what we don’t know. I am always going there. I went to the Universal Studio, went to 20th Century studio. I went to those places to see. I go to sets, if I hear of a big film being shot, I go there. I am very well received. They say this guy is a big film maker from Nigeria and they said “Oh! there is a soap running, they call it “Everybody hates Chris”. I have gone to that set. I have gone to the set where ‘Jackcline’ is being filmed. I have gone to the set where Morgan Freeman is working. I see them. I have also come up with the theory that 75 per cent of Nollywood budget is a waste. It is just a show-off. Majority of the work is post production – it happens in the studio. For instance, if they are filming in this room now, they will go and pay government to block that road, put truck  and show light  “Film shooting in progress”.

When we are driving to set, you begin to see body guard, police barricade everywhere just because they are shooting and they are going to pay. I said these are   wastes. Sometimes, the budget is just media hype.

WM: For how long have you been directing?

Imasuen: I have been directing for 17 years. My first main work was in 1995.

WM: What areas do you think   other film makers can look into to come out better?

Imasuen: It is self assessment. The good book says “man, know thy self”. You must be able to appreciate your limitation to seek advancement, but what I found out   is that everybody is a boss, but nobody knows more than the other. So, it is when you know your limitation that you can then improve on it. You have to say ‘ok I have a limitation here’. I am an artistic giant. I am not so much of a technical person. So, every time, I am looking for people who have has high sense of technology inside of them that I will fuse my artistry into to make a great film. So, it is up to us to do a self assessment, appraisal and say ‘this is my area of strength and this is my weakness’. Until you do that personal assessment, you will not move from where you are.

WM: How do you see Nollywood in the next five years?

Imasuen: Government should fund…. let them build five cinemas in each state of the federation. In the next five years, Nollywood will pay Nigerians’ bills. That is it. Let them take the next one year to build cinemas.

The kind of advertisement that has gone on with this film ‘Adesuwa’, if I have cinemas people will consume it. I will make more money to pay   bills if government will do that investment.

WM: If you are to live all over again, will you be a film director?

Imasuen: I will be an artist. Three things I want to do. I want to be an artist, a teacher and a preacher. That’s what I came to this world to do. If I come again I will do it. I have passions for this any day.

WM: How do you combine this with family?

Imasuen: I am a father. My children were here yesterday during the premier of ‘Adesuwa’, my latest movie. I am a very loving father by the grace of God.

WM: How does your wife cope when you are out directing films?

Imasuen: You must juggle it. Yesterday she enjoyed the glamour, glitz. Somebody called me yesterday and said I love your wife. Someone that is married to someone like you shouldn’t be working. You see her very hardworking and I said there are two ways to the coin. She is a wonderful girl doing her bit and also trying to complement all that I’m doing.

WM: What else do you want to tell us about Nollywood?

Imasuen: Nollywood is going to take its pride of place as far as the comity of film making is concerned. We are moving and people are moving. You cannot imagine the kind of budget people are putting in believing it deserves it and they will get there. Government needs to do a little push.