Academy award winner Alex Gibney, known for his deeply insightful documentaries, has delivered a straightforward and engrossing biography of late Afrobeat King, Fela Anikulapo Kuti ,in his latest project, Finding Fela.
The documentary film which is billed for cinema release across the country on Friday, October 17, 2014, was screened to a selected audience at Silverbird Cinema, Victoria Island, during the week. It will premiere tomorrow at the New Afrika Shrine ahead commencement of this year’s edition of Felabration expected to run from October 12 to 19.
According to the producers, Finding Fela recaptures the story of Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s life, his music, as well as his social and political importance. He created a new musical movement, Afrobeat, using that forum to express his revolutionary political opinions against the dictatorial Nigerian government of the 1970s and 1980s. His influence helped to bring about change in our political life as a nation, and also promoted Pan Africanist politics to the world. The power and potency of Fela’s message is completely current today and is expressed in the political movements of oppressed people, embracing Fela’s music and message in their struggle for freedom.
Shot in black and white and color formats, the film showcases actual footages from Fela’s life and times. It also encapsulates revealing interviews from family members and cronies, including Femi Kuti, Yeni Kuti, Seun Kuti, Bill T. Jones, Jim Lewis, Rikki Stein, Lemi Ghariokwu, and Queen Kewe Anikulapo-Kuti, among others.
Distributed in Nigeria and Ghana by Silverbird Film Distribution West Africa Limited, Finding Fela is a 2014 documentary film directed by Alex Gibney, portraying and analysing the life of pioneering musician Fela Kuti. The film had its world premiere at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 17, 2014.
– Vanguard.
