LAGOS FOUND FELA AGAIN

In an ambience where kindred souls swapped cigarettes and lighters, the memories of Nigeria’s iconic musician and activist, Fela Anikulapo Kuti was relived in Lagos last Sunday when the documentary, Finding Fela, which  premiered at the New Afrikan Shrine in Ikeja, Lagos. It was produced and directed by Alex Gibney, a renowned documentary filmmaker whose 2008 film, Taxi to the Dark Side, received an Oscar for Best feature-length documentary and a 2006 Academy Award nomination for Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room.

Finding Fela is a two-hour documentary on the life and times of Fela who died in 1997 at the age of 59. Providing the basis for the inquiry into the Fela persona was the famous Broadway musical, Fela!, co-produced by hip-hop giant Jay Z and Will Smith.
The movie begins with a brief introduction of Fela as Nigeria’s most popular musician and a sentence that arouses curiosity: “In 2009, 12 years after his death, Fela Kuti’s story appeared in an unlikely place.’’ That unlikely place was before an international audience in New York where the musical was first performed. That musical became a major box office hit and won Tony Awards while Fela became more popular than he was while alive.

In a chronological order, the 1200 footages were arranged to tell Fela’s story of courage, passion for music and his ideology. Beginning with his birth in Abeokuta, the plot established Fela as one from a respectable background using still pictures of his childhood and hometown in Abeokuta. His father was a reverend while his mother was a very influential activist, who fought for universal suffrage. In an interview with his son, Femi Kuti, it was revealed that Fela failed in most subjects at school even though his two other siblings, Olikoye and Beko did well and became medical doctors. Fela convinced his mother that he wanted to study medicine too and so he was allowed to go to the United Kingdom to study. Of course, Fela deviated from medicine and studied music at the Trinity School of Music as the picture of his final results showed.

Bill. T. Jones was a major focus in the interview sessions of the documentary. His Fela! production was staged on the discovery of the intriguing personality of Fela. As required in any theatrical production, there should be a clear interpretation of the plot through the dramatic actions which Jones did with the cast and crew of the high-budget production. The actors were to internalise their roles and it was a very tough call to try to duplicate Fela holistically. Yes, he confronted some truths about Fela while sidestepping some. For instance, the sex symbol status was carefully hinted through the choreography of female dancers who flock around him and a lot of attention was paid to the lead character who did an awesome performance of Fela’s songs and had to find anger –that Fela anger – against injustice and religious hypocrisy. The interview with Fela’s partner, Sandra was quite informative. She was a major influence in Fela’s music which was initially highlife and relished by all in his Koola Lobitos days. But with his encounter with Sandra who was partisan to the Black Panther Movement, Fela developed strong afro-centric stance and he refined his music to create the Afrobeat phenomenon. Sandra also confessed that throughout her romantic relationship with Fela in the US, she never knew that Fela was a married man. Hoodwinked, she decided to follow Fela to Nigeria and learn more about Africa. Living with three other wives became a very bitter pill for Sandra to swallow and after recording some songs with Fela, including the hit track Up Side Down, she left the shores and by the time she returned again, “Fela had changed.”

In many reviews, critics agree that Fela’s family members who were interviewed in the documentary were very honest. For instance, Yeni spoke for her mother on how Fela’s wild ways with women took its toll. She also recounted the events of February 18, 1977 in tears describing it as “the most horrific experience’’ she had ever had. Women were raped by the unnamed soldiers who evaded Fela’s Kalakuta Republic and his properties were burnt in reaction to the song, “Zombie”, which made a mockery of the military. Tony Allen, a member of Fela’s band, revealed that the song sold in volumes even though it was banned by the government. The sad occurrence made front page stories in national newspapers and here, the role of the media in human rights reportage was briefly broached with Femi Smith’s screaming front page headline, “Fela Must Be Set Free.’’

That vicious attack on Fela’s commune led to the death of Fela’s mother who was thrown out of the window. Footage of Fela’s performance after this incident revealed that he became more resolute in his struggle against the military government even though he suffered temporary setback from the attack. Upon his recovery, he married his 27 wives. He was also spotted at shows with a certain Professor Hindu from Ghana, who was his spiritual guide. Although Yeni never categorically dismissed the man as dubious, she said the man and his followers fled after the attack on Kalakuta.

Femi also recalled the day Fela declared that they were to march to the Dodan Barracks with his grandmother’s coffin. He wanted to pretend to be asleep because he knew that was trouble knocking but Fela insisted that they woke him up. Femi admitted that no one has Fela’s bravery. “Fela will kill all of us,’’ he said.

Fela’s life was all drama: arrest, detention and constant beating by the Nigerian police. Once, Fela was interviewed by a New York-based radio station on his US tour but was arrested at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport before he could depart. He slowed down on his musical career in the 90s but continued to perform at the Shrine. Yeni admitted that with his excesses, he began to lose his respect.
He became ill and refused to be treated in the orthodox hospitals. His brother who was the former Minister of Health, Olikoye disclosed on August 3 that Fela died the previous day from AIDS complications.

Flori and Tchagadjieff’s 1982 documentary, Music Is the Weapon turned out as a great material for the work which ended with Femi Kuti’s electrifying saxophone performance at the premiere of Fela! at the shrine. Though the story was well told, the documentary lacks fluid scenic transition with abruptly edited footages. A critic, Jordan Hoffman at The Guardian in his review of the documentary stated that “Fela himself is a vexing figure. Whether you feel he should be canonised as a freedom fighter or dismissed as an egomaniac is left a little bit open ended.” That’s true.  Master cinematographer, Tunde Kelani also described the documentary as “an addition to all the materials in the archives on Fela for the benefit of the next generation. Certainly, it has international standard and quality. It is not just a good teaching material but of good historical value.’’