Festival has come to support Nigeria film industry and it's also part of it . Fidelis Duker .. Interview by: Ajibade Alabi
*Festival has come to support Nigeria film industry and it's also part of it
. Fidelis Duker
Fidelis Duker is a well known name not only in Nigeria entertainment industry but all over the world . Apart from been one of the pioneer of Nigeria movie industry in early 90s, Fidelis Duker is also the first person to ever organized a film festival in West Africa, as his Abuja International Film Festival is the pioneer film festival in West Africa. Now in his 22nd years the festival which has many celebrities and Minister to have graced it is now the reference point of Nigeria film industry
Ajibade Alabi was one of the guess at Fidelis Duker get together party when he added a year on Nigeria significant days of May 29.
Despite his tight schedule, Duker still grants this exclusive interview.
Except below:
Film festival in Nigeria nay Africa can not be discussed or talk about without mentioning the name Fidelis Duker. Tell us more about film festival in Nigeria
To me Film Festival in Nigeria has come to stay. I remember when we started, years back you are there ( referring to this interviewer). At least you are part of it in 2006 when we have done like two editions of the festival
We started the first independent festival in Nigeria. We are the first. We are the pioneer of Nigeria film festival. And if I am not mistaken we have gotten up to fourth or fifty film festival in Nigeria as at the last counting. When we started it was only us it was later after many years that we have like 8 or ten film festival in Nigeria. The number of festival has improved not improved perse it has increased
The good things about it is that people can attend different types of film festival of their own interests. For instance I just returned from Enugu Festival not long ago, for the Cole City Festival
There is Festival in Kaduna, there is Festival in Ibadan , also there is Film Festival in Abeokuta. Abeokuta Film Festival, there's is also a Film Festival in Port Harcourt. There are more festival in East. There is even one in Akwa, there is in Lokoja in Kogi state, there is also in Lagos,. So there are so many Film Festival all over the states if Nigeria now. There is even a Film Festival for women, a Festival that is meant for women. To me I think the film festival has grown there is versalities there is option , unlike twenty two years ago where only it's Abuja International Film Festival that we have , now many Film Festival are on board. If you missed Abuja International Film Festival to submit your film or to attend there is option and opportunity for you to attend another Film Festival
And are you not feel treating that lots of film festival are springing up
No, no, no I should be happy for that , while should I be sad over that . That means we have given birth to many film festival. We are still the father of all Film Festival in Nigeria. That to me is a development. We have done very well not only in Nigeria but all over the world, if you mentioned a film festival in Nigeria, Abuja International Film Festival will come to anyone's mind, we are the pioneer, that one alone is enough for us to look back and say yes we have done well as far as Film Festival is concerned in Nigeria
In Nigeria we have guide of film Directors, Association of Movies producers, Association of Movies marketers, and so on. Do you also have guide for Film Festival in Nigeria?
Yes we have also . Incidentally I am the chairman of the board of trustees. Is called Nigerian Film Festival Association, our current chairman whose tenure who ends in November,2025 is Uchena Agbo
Looking back to 23 years since the Abuja International Film Festival debut in Nigeria what are the things that you feel other film festival can copy from you as a pioneer of film festival in Nigeria.?
There are lots of things they can emulate from us. We have not only be able to create film festival but we also succeeded in creating market. You know film festival is not just about film alone, it has a screening and exhibition like that. There is also market and exbition and products when I say marketing I mean people can come out and discuss and you have television stations and radio stations attending the festival it gives the festival a lot of awareness. I remember you are there in Abuja in 2006 and you have been attending up till date , you should know what I am talking about as far as media coverage is concerned. It is a festival where you can come and displayed your content buy content, so it a platform for young film makers too. We have big names in the industry who have come to the Film Festival in Abuja to boast their Film, people like Kunle Afolayan , Omoli Eboli, Kafidipes and the rest of them. And one of our aim of the Film Festival is to bring together the players in the industry to a round table and to us we have not got to our eldorado. We want to use the festival to train more young people that was one of our aim when we created it 22 years ago ,we want to let be a place where young or old film makers can have their market, is not going to be everytime idunota Lagos or Onitsha. The Film Festival will have the producers to have their Film exposed , to us that alone is something we are proud of , something we have achieved. The Film Festival has gotten to a stage that it must happen every year
Twenty two years ago when you want to venture into the Film Festival. Don't you see it as a risky or you just want to do something different from what you have been doing as a film producer?
Yes you are right we have that kind of fears , even from people they are pessimist about it . In 2003 me and my co founder that is my wife Temitope Duker went to see the then Nigeria Film censors manager we went to them and told them we want to partner with them we can not be doing film festival without carrying them along so we went to meet them . They have done film festival two years earlier and they are doing it every year . It was even our own festival that brought about the zuma festival. Even AMAA we are the one that inspired it to be . So many awards came after our existence. So the point I am making is that when we created Film Festival our aim and objective is to create a platform where people we be coming together, we are not pessimist our afraid of failure
We believe everything was going on in film industry but one thin is missing which is film festival and that's is where we come in
How where you be able to cope as a film producer, director and at the same time as a co founder of the yearly Abuja International Film Festival. How do you shuffle it
To me I don't wait till when the festival is about months to commence before I start the preparation. For us here preparation starts immediately the one finishes. The thin is that we have two different set of people for everything, we have different people who are working on production while other are working on film festival and the film festival is not purely about me and my team alone, I also work with journalist and other film producers. Thank God you are also once a part of the media team in the early stages of the festival. So it not an herculean task to be doing it every year. And with good support from my wife that is my co founder Temitope Duker we are always on top of the situation. It was in 2007 I shot " senseless" I also shot " Dada oni paki" in Ibadan, so both are going smoothly. So the film festival did not affect what we do persee because we have been able to structure the entire FAD media group ecosystem for every department to work independently. We did calabar festival in 2015 it didn't affect us and we are still doing Abuja International Film Festival , we only maximize our time and maximize our division of labor. So for us it quite an easy though at the initial stage it was very tough , but we succeeded
Sir what impact did Film Festival brought to Nigeria film industry?
A lot , lots of things. Film Festival is beyond the entertainment glamour razzmatazz, it is also a platform for training too, if you look at it most of the film makers have benefited from film festival, we always have workshop , here in film festival you can sell your film in YouTube , you also meet different people and interact with your co film producer, it also give Nigerian Film industry a say globally because like I said earlier Abuja International Film Festival is been broadcast everywhere when it's on so any Nigeria film that is shown or marketed during the festival has the tendency of been viewed worldwide. The Abuja International Film Festival has come to support Nigeria film industry and it's also parr of it. You can not do film without film festival they have a role to play. It may not be now, but ax the years is rolling by their impact will be felt. And if you must know lots of ministers have attended the Abuja International Film Festival that's is to tell you the impact is creating
I do tell people that film festival can be used to generate money for a country. Look at cane in France for example it's not up to lekki but yearly hundreds of people will cramped into it for a festival, I am telling you if you get to book your hotel in advance you will not see an accomodation throughout the duration of the festival,and know something government of France are making a hell money out of the festival, so what stops Nigeria from doing such a thing to generate money for the industry. Government can do better by picking one festival in Abuja, one in East then one in Lagos then we devote all our attention into this festival. To me government has not understood that this festival is very important but to me we are still going to be doing our best but I believe one day government will come to realize that this film festival is intragal part of development in Nigeria
Let come back to Nigeria film industry. Can you describe or differentiate the Nollywood of say twenty years to the one we have now
I am very happy with that your question fantastic question. For me heeen I made my first film in 1993, a Yoruba film titled. " Ese Atijo"( Old sins). That's is 32 years ago. So you imagine some of these artiste who are acting now some of them are not yet born while some of them have been born. The irony is I did not berudge them. The industry has evolved things have improved . What has happened is that technology has taken over part of the industry now , many things have changed the importation of cameras , young people have come in with fantastic ideal on their mind, they might not be a good story teller , but they have been able to use tech to advance what they are doing. To me we have better story thirty years ago, more depth story than what we have now. I will give you instances for those who are in their late 40s up to 70 to 80 today, if they have seen films like " Asewo To Re Mecca" " Toluwanile" " Nemesis" " Not my will " even " Silent Night ' if you watched all these films you will see that they have depth. Most of the actors we have now gone to school to learn the trade and the technology as I said earlier really help them , and filmid easier to shoot now unlike our time. I recalled that time you did not have whstzup group where you can communicate with yourself to explain things and inform yourself when to meet , time to meet and where to meet all these times there is nothing like it . Also remember then when it's only one mic everyone will be using unlike now that, you have a mic fixed on your chest for you alone , so like I said technology has helped a lot. Despite all these technology there is no depth again in film industry. Though film had it's own evolution process film has evolved, it has come to a stage that even those our colleagues who are dead will not even understand the industry again in thirty grave. The online and YouTube things have improved the industry. Now you hear people saying they used hundred of thousands of dollars to make a film, we saw " Lisabi" we saw " 7th door"
The film industry has really changed for what we used to have then in the area of technology however we need to work on the script of film we produce , no story is original or real but it depends on how well the story is script
