Jude Idada Nothing Personal Stopping Omoni Oboli’s Movie Premiere

Canada-based Nigerian award-winning filmmaker and writer, Jude Idada, is a phenomenal personality. With several works to his credit, he’s been able to show the world his creative vision. In this interview with Azuka Ogujiuba during a recent visit to his f

What are the new projects you working on? Presently, I just finished shooting a feature film and currently in post-production. The film is, ‘The Film Without a Title.’ In the soonest future, I will be doing a grand unveiling of the title of the movie at a launch for the publicity campaign of the movie. In addition to this, I am working on a production of my stage play, ‘3Some.’ The publication of my stage plays, ‘Sankara and Coma’; two collections of true stories, ‘I Hid My Future on Top of an Iroko Tree’ and ‘I Had a Father’. I am also in pre-production for another new movie inspired by the horror classics but drawing from the contemporaneous and set wholly in Nigeria.

How were you able to make a quick change from banking to the arts?

Actually, there was no quick change, as I studied Theatre Arts at the University of Ibadan. It was more of a ‘returning’ to my first love. But even while I worked in banking and management consulting, I continually kept my artistic wheels well oiled. I am a writer through and through. I write through a maelstrom. Hence even, while I worked in other fields, I always wrote and engaged in whatever capacity I could afford the time to at the time. For example, it was while I worked in Canada, that I published my first book, A Box of Chocolates and wrote and produced my play, Oduduwa, King of the Edos, which ended up winning the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Best Drama Prize and was the first runner-up for the NLNG Nigeria Prize for Literature. That being said, on a larger scale I had taken on a long journey to the arts itself being that I had finished high school as a pure science student, even proceeding to study Agricultural Economics at the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. I left in my third year to study Theatre Arts at the University of Ibadan, primarily because I couldn’t understand why I was studying what I knew I wouldn’t practise and also because I couldn’t resist the pull of the arts. I proceeded to work in the banking and management consulting sector in Nigeria, while in Canada I worked in banking, telecommunications, health and I.T industries as a Certified Human Resources Professional. It was during that period, after watching a short film at the Canadian Film Board, that I took the decision of fully chasing after my singular passion. So I resigned, sold some of my properties and wrote and produced my first feature film, The Tenant, which went on to win several awards, both internationally and locally including Best Screenplay at the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA), Audience Choice Award at the Hollywood Black Film Festival, Best Film at the Mid Atlantic Black Film Festival amongst several others. For me, this was a turning point in my career pursuits. I have not returned to the corporate world after that, preferring to burnish my artistic talents and push

for- ward a socio-cultural narrative that adds to global understanding and tolerance.

As a young boy, when did you decide you were going to focus on arts and filmmaking?

I believe I was born an artist. So as to the time I decided on focusing on the Arts itself, I would say it was right from my first cognitive thoughts when my mother would tell me I was always acting out scenarios. But consciously I would say it was when I read my first full-length novel, Kontiki Expedition. It was so magical and it inspired me to delve into the arts fully. That was why at the age of nine, I had written my first novel. And it was in seven, eight leaves exercise book. Unfortunately, my guardian and counselling teacher took it from me and I never heard from her again. Doubly sad, was the fact that I was put in the purest of sciences, which took me even further away from the arts and my noticeable talents.

As regards filmmaking, it was right from the moment I watched the film, Ben Hur with Charlton Heston in the lead role. I sat there as a kid and was transported to that world. It was so powerfully evocative and visually stunning that I knew deep down, that making films was my destiny.

It has been a challenge being that my parents weren’t initially receptive of my desire to immerse myself in the arts, but after a long struggle, they finally helped in facilitating my complete switch to the arts. Hence I studied Theatre Arts, after

studying Agricultural Economics for two and a half years.

Amongst the projects, you’ve worked on, which was the most tasking and demanding for you and why?

I would say it was the writing of my stage play, Oduduwa: King of the Edos. It is a historical epic that explores the true personage, tribe, identity and heritage of the acclaimed progenitor of the Yoruba race, Oduduwa. I had to research vastly: books, videos, interviews and visits to ancient locations in order to get the veracity of the story as close to the ‘truth’ as I could ascertain. There was also the issue of the ‘ongoing’ heated debate as regards the same topic, as seen in the battle of words between the late Oba of Benin, Omo N’Oba N’Edo Erediauwa and the late Ooni of Ife, Olubuse II, Oba Okunade Sijuwade. Therefore I had to approach the central topic and theme of the play, with caution and uncommon respect, since I did not want to be seen as denigrating any of the cultures or identity politics.

Also, there was the issue of language. Since I neither speak Edo nor Yoruba, it was a battle capturing the true meanings of ancient archival materials I was coming across, in addition to the myths, folklore, parables and proverbs that existed in the languages of Yoruba or Edo. There was also the issue of the title of the play, Oduduwa: King of the Edos. The Edos had an issue with it because they felt right from the go that I was taking sides with the Yoruba account of the age-old relationship between Oduduwa and the Edos.

It got so bad, that during the production of the play in Ibadan, a bank bluntly refused to give us sponsorship since they believed it was insulting the Yorubas. This was strange, being that they had not read the play itself. Also, an actor had to drop out because of the pressure from family.

That being said, I soldiered on; finished the play, performed it, published it and finally, the play won the Association of Nigerian Authors Prize for Best Drama and also was the first runner-up for the Nigerian Prize for Literature.

Over the past five years, would you say there’s been an improvement in filmmaking and directing in Nigeria?

Yes, there definitely has been. This has happened in all departments of filmmaking. Owing to the fact that a lot of aspiring filmmakers have gone to proper film schools to get the requisite knowledge and experience. They have come back and put their skills to work. This in itself has created a ripple effect wherein all the people who have worked with them, have positively benefited from what they learnt from them. Also, the internalisation of Nollywood has helped in encouraging foreign entities to invest in Nigeria, both financially and scholarly, hence there has been an influx of money, distribution agreements and all sorts of scholarships. These have had a trickledown effect that has boosted the quality of the films coming out of Nigeria.

Which actor or actress would you like to work with within Nollywood and Hollywood and why?

Joke Silva in Nollywood as I would love the challenge of taking an already known actor and reinventing her. She is a great actress and I believe she needs roles that will also give her challenges. Taking her to places she has never been before and putting forward a role that the audience has never seen before.

In Hollywood, Daniel Day-Lewis will be the actor I would love to work with. I believe in the realm of method acting, there is no actor living greater than him. Thus a chance to work with him is more than welcome.

Which movie production in Nollywood has caught your attention?

I would say the movie, ‘76’ by Izu Ojukwu. Principally, for its attention to details, both in the areas of production design and the entertainment value of storyline as a social construct and a historical didactic.

What do you have to say as regards ‘piracy as a social vice’ in Nollywood?

Piracy is a cankerworm that has eaten deep into the socio-cultural and economic framework of the nation. It is the current ‘normalcy.’ The citizens have taken it as their right. For them, access to the artistic creation of people is what is owed them. But there is no cankerworm that cannot be destroyed or uprooted. The way forward being the strengthening of the law. Not as words on paper but a force that is executable. People must be made to pay for breaking the law. The price must be high and everyone must be held accountable. Also, technology must catch up with the production of artistic pieces. Whether it is as invisible track-able codes, breakable locks, non-erasable insignia etc.

Living in Canada and working with Nollywood; does it not slow you down especially with your projects in a way? ?

The e world is a village. llage. Technology nology has reduced educed the distances stances between een people le and locations. ons. Hence I am not slowed owed down n by distance nce but instead ad forced d to be more ore effective ive with my time and project ct managegement skills. I work k in phases es and I also group my ‘to o dos’ together, her, so that what I need to do in Nigeria, geria, I position it t in a way that it all falls alls within the time I am in Nigeria. In terms of writing, I can do that anywhere. nywhere. That being said, I do not only work in Canada and Nigeria. ria. My work also takes me to the USA, SA, South America, Europe and other ther African countries. Hence I have e developed working on the go, across ross time zones and with multi-projects - projects going on at the same time, into a fine science. It is second nature. e.

Some months back, the premiere of ‘Okafor’s Law’, an Omoni Oboli production was halted because you sued her for copyright issues. What do you have to say about this?

I actually tually didn’t sue Omoni Oboli. . She was sued by Raconteur Productions, uctions, a company that was in production uction for the same film. I was simply ya a witness in the case, being that copyright of the intellectual property in question belongs to me. That being said, because the matter is in court, I would not be able to discuss it, as it is still sub judice. My sincere apologies.

Omoni Oboli was a friend of yours before the drama. Are you guys still friends and do you think you guys can work together in the nearest future again?

I believe that everything happens for a reason. I also believe that malice and rancour do not augur well for anyone. In this light, I do not hold anything against anyone. I do not go to bed with anger, hate or unresolved emotions. Hence, I welcome continually whatever the future holds, in good faith and with the highest levels of professionalism.

Do you have plans for settling in Nigeria?

One day soon, the chicken will come home to roost. Until then, the world is the chicken’s oyster.

Which writer or filmmaker do you look up to?

The writer I look up to is a late writer, Marie Corelli, who wrote books that explored the cosmo-spiritual in the most contemporary of settings. She was powerful in her use of words, the scenarios she created and the characters she placed in them. The filmmaker I raise high up as my muse currently is actually a tie, Christopher Nolan for the magnifificence magnificence and innovation of his mind and style and Steve McQueen for the intensity and simplicity of his approach to the character in confrontation to his desire, the obstacle and his environment.

Would you describe yourself as a fashionable person?

Yes, I am fashionable.

How would you describe your style?

Understated and continually evolving. My dress style is tired of my politics and my humanist viewpoints. I swing between the deeply casual to the laid back business casual and perchance; the combination of the global and the local. I am never ostentatious in style or dressing. I believe in warm colours, once a while I might go boldly to draw attention to something external or internal. I am a shoe freak. I guess this is because I have big feet (size 14) hence I am always in search of that perfect shoe in the perfect size. This has made me collect a huge number of shoes, which I continually give out to people I meet the same shoe challenge as mine.

If you could visit anywhere in the world, all expense paid, where would it be?

Right now, it will be, Easter Island in Polynesia. I love nature and I also love history. Not contemporary history but the ancient history that informs why I love to travel to places that are rich in ancient, medieval and antediluvian history. I love to know how the people that walked this earth before I thought, imagined, dreamed, lived and died. Want to know the creations of their hands, the beliefs that they had and if those beliefs still occur today.

What’s your life’s philosophy?

Because you are, I am. And because we are, the world is a better place, for all those who will come after us. For in every one of us, there is God, and to hurt anyone is to hurt God, and to love anyone is to love God.

Tell us about your family. Are you living g in Canada because of your wife and children?

I am not married and I have no children. I don’t know if it is unfortunate or fortunate. All I know is that it is my present station in life. That being said, I left Andersen Worldwide (KPMG) for Canada several years ago to chart a new course in life. But life and its vicissitudes have an interesting and ironic way of placing one on a carousel. You run from one thing and unknown to you, you are running towards the same thing. Life has taught me that it is not the place that matters but the mindset of the person in the place. For what is a desert for someone is actually an oasis for another. That being said, I am not trapped in Canada or grounded in it because of familial ties, even though, my mother lives there; but because in Canada I find a certain way of life that is germane to the full expression of my politics and worldview. As a humanist, social activist and philanthropist, I find myself continually at the forefront of championing the rights and welfare of the underprivileged and disenfranchised.