‘Why I wrote about women behind the scenes’

Niran Adedokun is the author of the book, ‘Ladies calling the shots.’ The Public Relations practitioner, lawyer and journalists speaks about his work and why he chose to beam the spotlight on Nigerian women behind the camera. Please tell us about your book, ‘Ladies calling the shots.’ Ladies calling the shots is the profile of […]

Niran Adedokun is the author of the book, ‘Ladies calling the shots.’ The Public Relations practitioner, lawyer and journalists speaks about his work and why he chose to beam the spotlight on Nigerian women behind the camera.

Please tell us about your book, ‘Ladies calling the shots.’

Ladies calling the shots is the profile of 17 top female film and television directors in Nigeria. This book was inspired by the fact that Nollywood is ranked as the third largest movie industry in the world while an often  ignored fact is the contribution of a growing corps of female directors who are literally calling the shots in Africa’s biggest movie industry. The ladies profiled in this book represent different generations of female contributors to the industry, their career trajectory and the impact that they have continued to make.

What was the motivation to write it?

Between 2012 and 2016, I had seen a few movies directed by women and I thought that was significant. This is more so because the role of a movie director is a largely unsung one. The average movie goer does not take cognisance of the fact that the beautiful acting, seductive scenery and quality pictures that they see in movies came together from the vision of the person, the French describes as the auteur.  I noticed that these films directed by women were quite outstanding for a variety of reason. Some would measure with the technical quality of films made anywhere in the world while others in spite of not being phenomenal in the technical area, made good impact at the box office. I am one who believes in divine guidance and I think God just dropped the idea in my spirit one day and I embarked on a research. I discovered that there were well over 20 ladies plying the trade in Nigeria and that time and that most of them were doing pretty well. I made a list with the help of my friend Judith, who is acquainted with a number of these directors. I reached out to them one after the other including Mildred Okwo and Blessing with whom I have been friends for a while. Most of them obliged to be interviewed and here we are.

You focused on seventeen women; why them?

I wanted to do an all-inclusive book actually. At the beginning I reached out to everyone I could but some of those I listed were just not available. One particular lady asked to be excused so we had to move on. In the case of the late Amaka Igwe, her husband, Charles was very gracious to answer all my questions. So the information he provided alongside my own research generated the information I have in the book. I felt it would be gravely unjust not to have Lola Fani Kayode in the book, given her pivotal contribution to the industry that we planned to address. Unfortunately it was impossible to reach her in spite of all that I tried. I then had to depend on information that I scooped from here and there.

What was the essence of writing the book?

Initially my motive was strictly to celebrate these ladies and raise general consciousness to the enormous responsibility that the filmmaker bears but as we went on, I discovered that all of these ladies, without exception have really inspirational stories that should affect the lives of everyone aspiring to “become.” I saw tenacity and the ability to dare, to confront challenges and hold on to conviction regardless of the strength of opposition and I got more convinced by the day that these were stories that everyone, no matter what industry they aspire to work should read and learn from.

Who were you targeting to benefit from it?

Although I think upcoming or aspiring filmmakers and practitioners in the film industry, especially ladies would have immediate and practical lessons to draw from the stories in the book, I reckon that everyone with ambition should benefit from the book. Regardless of one’s area of endeavour, the road to actualisation is usually littered with an assortment of challenges which sometimes totally discourage people from daring to venture, but there are live lessons here on how to surmount challenges and turn adversity around for your own good. So every ambitious young person should benefit from “Ladies calling the shots”

What’s the yardstick with which you measure your statement that Nigerian female filmmakers have held their own better than their counterparts in advanced countries?

By the sheer volume and quality work they are doing in spite of the relative lack of structure. You can say that Nigeria is developing a studio system now with the likes of African Magic, Iroko TV and the rest but until very recently, filmmakers sourced funding or self-produced their films. Whatever it was, these ladies always weather the storm. And now that Television channels fund productions, you will see that quite a number of the ladies prove their mettle.  There is a story of how Blessing Egbe fought and won the battle of blackmail by cinemas in the book for instance. That singular event is an indication of the strength of character that I found across.

The other thing is in the area of industry recognition and awards. Only one woman has won a best director award in the Academy Awards after 90 years, Nigerian women have won far many more recognition within and outside the country

Lola Fani-Kayode is one of the pioneer females in movie production in Nigeria. But she’s not one of the women you have mentioned in your book. Any reason for that?

She is actually. The only thing is that we not having access to her affected the quality of information in her profile but it sure would have been a disservice not to have her.

While and Amaka Igwe influenced a Tope Oshin, do you see such s continuity from an Oshin or Oboli to a younger generation?

Oh yes. I see a conscious effort actually. And I am happy that you mentioned Tope Oshin who encourages her colleagues to mentor other young ladies. As a matter of fact, one or two of the ladies who have now become noticeable directors would speak about the impact that Miss Oshin has made on them. This was also the motivation for her documentary “Amaka’s kin.”Another person that is doing significant things with mentoring is Grace Edwin Okon. These ladies kind of seem to walk together and I hope to see more of that.

Would you say that women in the industry have fully exploited the opportunities available to them?

Absolutely not. But the good thing is they are all ambitious and pushing the boundaries. An almost unanimous line in their profiles would be the need for continuous professional development, not resting on the successes of yesterday. While some think that there is a dearth of authentic Nigerian stories at the moment, others want to be able to break into markets on other continents through the universality of their stories and the quality of production. They break new grounds everyday but none of them think they have attained yet and there can be no better impetus for exploits than that.

Will you be writing on other women calling the shots soon?

There is a chance. Lol. I have received all sorts of suggestions as to how I could do a series of this book based on industries. It is not an idea that I have thought seriously about as I have not dismissed it. One thing I am almost certain about however is that, God giving me the grace, I would love to do a sequel to this particular book. I am thinking about looking at ladies like Shirley Frimpong-Manso and Safi Faye

Is this your first book?

Yes, it is my fist book but as I have indicated, it will by the grace of God not be the last.