Filmmaker, Kunle Afolayan explains why He made the ‘Mokalik’ movie

Award-winning filmmaker and actor, Kunle Afolayan who recently released another blockbuster, ‘Mokalik’ has revealed his motives for doing the Yoruba film.

Afolayan told Sunday PUNCH that his target audience was the Yoruba-speaking people of the country and that his intention, among others, was to promote the very rich culture of the Yoruba.

“My film, Mokalik, is not for everybody and even the cinemas weren’t sure if people in the east would like to watch it because it is made in Yoruba. However, I intentionally made the film in Yoruba because I wanted to project Yoruba people. I wanted to make a film in my native language and see how far it would go. I am glad that this is the first indigenous language film that Netflix picked from this part of the world. It means I have achieved my aims and objectives for the film”, he enthused.

He explained further, “I made Mokalik because I had not done a film in 95 per cent Yoruba language. I felt that with it, artisans would see the need to start going to cinemas and also enjoy the comfort. I intend using the film to document the language and culture of the Yoruba people.”

When asked to identify common mistakes that filmmakers in Nigeria make, the widely experienced producer lectured, “I wouldn’t call them mistakes but individual preferences. Some people don’t like long-term goals. They don’t care about posterity; they just want to do it for the short term. And that’s because they see film majorly as a commercial venture. But if one looks at it from that point, one wouldn’t be borrowing money from banks to do these things. If you want posterity to remember you for what you have done, you would need to ensure that what you are putting out there will stand the test of time. There are hundreds of films released in this country every year but many of them are forgotten just after a month. I think people should place more emphasis on quality rather than quantity. Even if you would do only one film in a year or two, make sure it’s something that will linger in people’s memory.”

He also revealed that his late father, who was one of the greatest filmmakers of his time, did not encourage him to go into the make-believe industry.

According to him, he (Kunle) was only allowed to travel with him to distribute his film to vendors outside Lagos because he, the father, was short-staffed.

He, however, said he used the opportunity to learn the tricks of the business by consistently understudying the man of wonderful memory.

Source: PM News