Communa Interviews: Oluwalanaire Aderemi on Bringing African Narratives to the World.

lanaire aderemi

Oluwalanaire Aderemi is a poet, playwright, producer, storyteller, and filmmaker dedicated to showcasing her diverse talents. Before the London premiere of her film “Record Found Here”, we sat down with Aderemi—whose name translates to "God has created a path of success." She has consistently embodied this name through her work.

In our discussion, we explored the significance of presenting her film to a British audience, the importance of highlighting impactful historical events for today's generation, the influence of the Egba women’s riot on her, and the challenges she has faced in her filmmaking journey.

What inspired you to get into filmmaking? 

I love a challenge and I have essentially worked with every art form, from music to theatre to literature, so I just thought, why don't I make a film? Before now I had made two films, one was a documentary of a play I wrote and the process behind it. The 2nd was hair and how it resonates with Nigerian women, but I felt these two films were more autobiographical, so I wanted to do something that had little to do with me and in terms of what inspired me. In short?, CURIOSITY, my background is more poetry and theatre. AND Theatre is very expensive, it is easier for you to travel with film than it is to travel with theatre, with film, once created it can take a life of its own, and it can appear in different places.

You had a film, Protests, Hymns, and Caskets (PHC) that seemed to touch on the same topic as the record found here, can you walk us through the process of each and juxtapose how both have impacted you? Is there any relationship between both projects? 

In terms of the connections, PHC is about the Egba women’s revolts and this film Record found here is what I would describe as the exodus to this curiosity I had before I had a student production called “You Can't Break Us” in university which also touched on the same topic. In terms of themes, I wanted to touch on the importance of protests as well as resistance to colonial rule and I just wanted to document Nigerian history before independence. Pre-colonial history appears so distant to us, PHC was for a reconstruction of what could have been in that period. The biggest challenge I faced with PHC is that I could not take it beyond where it was staged, and I am a big dreamer, I think and dream big and if I feel like I am being constrained, I am happy to be patient but I gave myself a year for it to go beyond this place, I knew I would either need to fundraise or create through another medium. I tried to send pictures to theatres and knocked on so many doors, but I kept getting turned back with phrases like “our audiences are not ready for this, our audiences would not resonate with this Nigerian story, we are more focused on black British stories” which astounded me because a lot of content that isn't about the black British story is consumed en mass here. 

What I sensed from the closed doors is that I need to take things into my own hands and garner enough resources to create my opportunities. And so the film was born out of frustration with the industry. My biggest challenge with the film itself was getting interviewees who had experienced the riots themselves, the events that occurred in the 1940s and it was daring to try and find people who could give detailed accounts of the events. I am religious and I had this premonition that I needed to go to Nigeria since 2021 when I had the story story podcast. 

lanaire aderemi

So what is it about the Egba Women’s Revolt that you identify with the most? 

For me, I consider the Egba Women’s Revolt as the most successful revolt in Nigerian history, we live in a patriarchal state, and for them to gather enough women without the technology that we can afford these days and push a motion and win, I found that so powerful. It also helps that when End SARS occurred I began to see parallels and I spoke to how we are constantly impacted by our grandmothers and how Twitter is essentially the assemblies the women were able to gather. I am so taken by how these women were so committed to getting their freedom, they were very imaginative about the way they did it. The Abeokuta women’s union was also inspiring with how meticulous they were with documentation of the events that transpired, the national archives and Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti were littered with a lot of their essence, I felt like I was tasked to bring their story to the new age. They initially had tried to peacefully get the taxes removed but once they saw it was ineffective, the inspiration of FRK turning the Abeokuta Ladies Club to the Abeokuta Women’s Union was a great step to pushing through the motion. I am always very concerned with the people glorified in our history books whilst relegating more honourable characters. The conditioning of the kids with tales of military leaders and unscrupulous characters typically affects the psyche and it is best to feed them with people who went against the grain like the Aba Women’s Riot, The Ogoni 9, etc. 

What do you consider your favourite parts of Record Found Here? And when did you realise that your vision was being actualized?

There was a certain shot of 3 women sitting and they were so enchanting, the beauty of elderly people is that they are carefree and childlike, I remember one of them trying to set me up with her son, which I found hilarious; there was also a scene where they were singing a song and the woman proclaimed the song is best sung as a collective and I found that so profound because the thinking was always collective, the realisation that community and collaboration are vital for even joyous acts. Them also talking about the impact of the revolt on them was very inspiring and I felt so blessed and honoured I felt that I struck gold to be able to share this story directly from their lips. I always feel chills when I hear them speak. 

You have the London premiere in September but I know you had the Nigerian Premiere in June. How did you feel presenting this film to the Nigerian audience, knowing how you have felt about coming back to Nigeria? 

I feel like I am still reflecting on this whole experience, before the premiere I felt a little nervous, especially about the Yoruba translations and what people would think about the film. I was hoping no one would spot any crazy errors, I also felt very excited and relieved, I remember I cried after the film finished, This project has been swimming inside of me for so long, at least 10 years, the seed was birthed by my grandma and I wanted to put this out there. At the end of the day, the reactions of people moved me, I was unable to get the testimonials immediately post-premiere. I just watched it recently and their reactions made me feel fulfilled. I never expected the adulation. I wanted the film to resonate with them and it did. I love that people were able to learn more about pre-colonial history including righteous anger that they didn’t know before the film. People also really liked how soft the film is. I enjoy it when a film can breathe even when it touches violent themes. The film also has parts exploring how meticulous my grandparents were at documenting history, they had multiple photo albums which I always immersed myself in for hours and hours. I loved that documentation of self also resonated with people. 

What are we to expect from you going forward? Are we to expect you to touch on more historical events? Or do you feel you are more open to different perspectives and topics? 

I want to rest, I don’t even know. I feel like I am ending a chapter of my life with what has transpired over the past year and I am trying to move on to the next chapter. This opens a lot of uncertainties, but what I know is I want to tell stories that make people feel things and awaken their imaginations. I am not opposed to being known as a filmmaker who delves into Nigerian history because I feel these are things people need to know but one thing is I never work on things I am not passionate about. I would love to tell a story centred around important Nigerian Heroes. 

Going back to the Record found here, you are filming in Abeokuta, what advice would you like to give upcoming filmmakers regarding the logistics of filming in Nigeria?

Firstly, Having a good team is as important as planning appropriately. One mistake I made that I was able to rectify was I didn’t take into account that Nigeria has a lot of public holidays. The public holiday almost altered the shooting at the national archives, another problem faced was when we went to the University of Ibadan, I was impressed with the amount of documents that were preserved about Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti and her family and I was gutted that I had not got the permission to film there, I wish I had got more permissions before getting there. Another point is to have a good schedule and know the type of people to interview, one of the interviewees did not know about the revolts and spoke at length about his mother whom he loved which delayed shooting for a while. There were also logistics problems regarding time management. 

lanaire aderemi

Are there any shots that we didn’t get to see on record found here? 

Yes, there was a video of me walking past the photos of the kings in Egba land and we didn’t put that in as we felt the shot wouldn’t do anything to the story, maybe I should release a behind-the-scenes about the documentary. 

Lastly, you are bringing this story to the British audience on the 13th of September, what do you want them to see with this story? 

I want them to know that African women also have their history of resistance and they can learn from that. I also want them to see the international collaborative nature of this story, A story to be seen everywhere not as just a Nigerian story but World history, the way we study people like Princess Diana, Rosa Parks, etc we can also learn from this. 

Thank you very much for speaking to us.

Oluwalanaire Aderemi's journey from poetry and theatre to filmmaking illustrates a profound commitment to preserving and sharing pivotal narratives. Through her latest film, “Record Found Here”, she delves into the powerful legacy of the Egba Women’s Revolt, bridging historical and cultural gaps for both Nigerian and British audiences. Aderemi's reflections on her work underscore a deep-seated passion for storytelling and historical exploration, revealing the resilience and creativity of African women throughout history. As she prepares for the British premiere, her hope is for audiences to recognize and appreciate the global significance of these stories. With plans to continue exploring impactful narratives, Aderemi remains dedicated to telling stories that resonate and inspire. 

Thank you, Oluwalanaire Aderemi, for sharing your insights and journey with us. Please get your tickets now for the London premiere taking place on September 13th.