Biyi Bandele relocated to England where he had a flourishing career as a writer. novelist, playwright and filmmaker after winning BBC’s Playwriting Competition
By Kehinde Okeowo
Nigerian writer and filmmaker, Biyi Bandele, famous for the movie adaptation of Chimamanda Adichie’s classic novel ‘Half Of A Yellow Sun’ is dead.
His death was announced via a statement signed and made available to TheNiche by his daughter, Temi Biyi-Bandele on Tuesday, August 9.
According to her, the sudden and unexpected death of the 54-year-old prolific writer occurred on Sunday, August 7, in Lagos.
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The statement reads, “I am heartbroken to share the sudden and unexpected death on Sunday 7th of August in Lagos of my father Biyi Bandele,”
“Biyi was a prodigiously talented writer and filmmaker, as well as a loyal friend and beloved father. He was a storyteller to his bones, with an unblinking perspective, singular voice and wisdom which spoke boldly through all of his art, in poetry, novels, plays and on screen. He told stories which made a profound impact and inspired many all over the world. His legacy will live on through his work.
“He was taken from us much too soon. He had already said so much so beautifully and had so much more to say.
“We ask everyone to please respect the privacy of his family and friends as we grieve his loss”
Biyi Bandele was born in Kafanchan, in Southern Kaduna in 1968, he studied Dramatic Arts at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Ile Ife.
He won the BBC Playwriting Competition, and thereafter relocated to England where he had a flourishing career as a writer.Novelist, playwright and filmmaker.
Biyi’s latest work is Elesin Oba, the King’s Horseman (2022), a movie yet to be released, which he adapted from Wole Soyinka’s classic drama, Death & The King’s Horseman, and directed for EbonyLife Films.
He had earlier co-directed Blood Sisters, a 4-part Netflix-original television drama series, also for EbonyLife Films.
He was also the director of the highly successful Television Series, SHUGA: What’s Your Reality and Father of Afrobeat, a TV special documentary for the BBC in 2018.
His fiction and non-fiction works include The Street, Burma Boy and a novel, which is a recreation of the story of his father and other veterans of the Second World War, who served in Burma, India.
His other writing works include The Man Who Came in from the Back of Beyond, The Sympathetic Undertaker, and Yoruba Boy Running.
Biyi Bandele until his death, was a devoted father to his son, Korede and daughter, Temi.
