Oni Diri Celebrates African Artistry

Vanessa Obioha

Having an eye for spotting talents, Olubukola Bolarinde has helped visual artists like Patrick Isiekwene and Nelson Okoh extend the reach of their artwork to a larger audience.

With time, she realised the good she could serve by providing a strategic platform to showcase the often-neglected upcoming talents to Africa and the rest of the world.

After many years of working as project manager in firms like Zenon and Standard Chartered Bank, the Ekiti native assumed the role of chief executive officer for the newly incorporated content creation and talent management company Yellow Dot, where she strives to promote arty expressions of all forms that relay the African tale through visual arts and cinematography. The outfit also leans towards promoting sports talents and contents.

For the official launch of Yellow Dot, the screening of ‘Oni Diri’ served as a centrepiece for the evening. The event which hosted guests to an evening of merriment at the Filmhouse Cinema Signature Lounge saw an impressive turnout from industry players.

Whilst set to give off a relaxed ambience, the atmosphere later became charged with electric to the metal clangs and drumbeats from the royal entourage of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi who graced the event in an all-white, immaculate regalia; thus, adding a touch of African essence that amplified the goals of Yellow Dot – to properly promote African artistry.

Its debut film production solely written by Bolarinde and produced by her 17-man team is a timely story of true African essence. The short film elaborately details the childhood of a lady recollecting her peculiar one-to-one interaction with a local hairdresser mama Jeneba.

The story is not just about hair, it transcends in its plot to reflect the life of the hairstylist and her clan on a larger scale; highlighting certain socio-cultural nuances only an insider could perceive. Although through the eyes of a preteen girl, her observations resonated with the audience, leaving them to basks in nostalgia.

It revealed a sense of longing for the past and the peace and order the pre-internet era offered. Straight-to-the-point with backing monologues from her retrospective older self-helped guide its audience. Whatever it may have lacked in acting, it surely made up for in spoken words, words punctuated with humour.

For its debut production, Yellow Dot left a good first impression on its audience in terms of production quality and story plot.

“I definitely want Yellow Dot to be recognised as that company which creates excellent materials when it comes to original African content.” Bolarinde stated her goals for the company. She continued, “this will help show the world that when given the opportunity; all talents can thrive.”