Part of activities for day one of Felabration 2014 opened last Monday at the New Afrika Shrine with the premiere of Finding Fela, a film by Alex Gibney.
Released in cinemas across Nigeria on October 17, Finding Fela tells the story of Fela’s life, his music, as well as his social and political importance.
Finding Fela moves from the legend’s early life as a choir boy in a small church in Abeokuta, to his study of music in the United Kingdom and how he later found his true calling with music. It also takes the audience through his life as an activist after the attack on the Kalakuta residence in 1977 where his mother, Madam Olufunmilayo Ransome-Kuti, is brutalised, leading to her death from complications months after.
Fela created Afrobeat, a new musical movement, and used it to express his revolutionary political opinions against the dictatorial Nigerian government of the 1970s and 1980s. He helped bring a change leading to democracy in Nigeria while promoting pan-Africanist politics around the world.
The movie showcases footage from Fela’s life and times as well as revealing interviews from family members and cronies, including his children – Femi Kuti, Yeni Kuti and Seun Kuti – as well as Bill Jones, Jim Lewis Rikki Stein, Lemi Ghariokwu, and Queen Kewe Anikulapo-Kuti to name a few.
The film is distributed in Nigeria and Ghana by Silverbird Film Distribution W/Africa Limited.