Reimagining African Folktales Through the Lens

Yinka Olatunbosun

In 2021, young filmmakers received some good news. Netflix and UNESCO had launched a short film competition named ‘African Folktales, Reimagined’ to support young African filmmakers.  The competition ran across Sub-Saharan Africa with six emerging storytellers selected from Nigeria, South Africa, Mauritania, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

Earlier this week, THISDAY engaged the young Nigerian filmmaker, Korede Azeez whose short film titled ‘Halima’s Choice’ was among the selected six. Korede Azeez was first introduced to filmmaking in 2018 when she joined the BBC Media action as an assistant technical producer. She worked as a sound recordist and camera operator on several TV spots before she co-founded Hive Film Collective with colleagues and directed her first short film ‘Tip of The Edge.’

Looking back into her childhood years, she recalled some mundane activities that might have been the building blocks of her career in filmmaking.

“I remember watching a lot of Nollywood movies when growing up as well as hallmark movies and for some reasons, I would imagine what it was to create the scenes,’’ she began. “Funny enough, I didn’t know who the director or the cinematographer was. I used to daydream a lot as a child and I was always intrigued by stories. I read a lot of story books. My mum was always buying story books. I started writing short stories myself when I was nine years old or ten. Since then, I have been writing stories.”

When her mother bought her first camera phone, she and her brother would play around with it.
“It was then I discovered that when you are recording a video and the subject leaves the scene and you pause the video, by the time you play it back, the person disappears from the scene. That’s how we learnt the trick to creating the disappearing scenes.’

She would later study mass communication at the university. Although she was torn between science and arts, she moved along the path that would turn out to be fulfilling.

“When I was applying to Caritas University, there was no theatre arts so I opted for mass communication. The programme was good for me because my school had a radio station. And at that time in Enugu, there were not so many radio stations. Lucky for me, I started working as a student presenter and producer at that time. By the time I had graduated, I had four years of experience working in a radio station. Upon graduation, they gave me a full time job.”
During her service year, she had a stint at a television station. Though she was assigned to work as a presenter, she was more driven to work behind the cameras. She kept learning from the crew and the skills she acquired outside her job description helped her to secure a job at BBC Media action.
“I was there for almost two years and left in 2020 during the COVID-19 period. BBC Media action is funded by donor organisations and the pandemic affected the funds. About 70 percent of us had to be let go.’’
While in between jobs, she birthed a child and kept working on new film projects while receiving tutelage on filmmaking.
Set for release on Netflix come March 29, Halima’s Choice- her winning entry for ‘African Folktales, Reimagined’- is a futurist experiment that tells the story of a young girl from a secluded Fulani village who elopes with an AI to escape an arranged marriage.
“A lot of us carry stories with us for a long time,’’ she continued. “With me, in particular, I noticed that most of my stories stem from my own experiences drawn from past relationships or the experiences of others. When I learnt about ‘Folktales Reimagined,’ I started digging for folktales. But then, I found this story that actually comes from Southern Nigeria. The story of this girl whose parents want her to marry a rich man. She refuses to marry any of the old suitors. She wanted a fine young man whom the parents disapproved of and she left with him.
“She discovered the man was a spirit with borrowed human form. By that time, she was stuck. She was stuck with the man’s spirit family. She eventually was allowed to return to her family when she married the rich old man. It was a cautionary tale to make girls marry who their parents want. But I have a problem with that message. I decided to take that story and spin it in terms of the core message, instead of telling a cautionary tale.
As one who had always been fascinated with fantasy and sci-fi, she infused the elements of those in her production. Using science and technology, she developed a story that questions conventional thinking through a futuristic storytelling in Halima’s Choice.
Inspired by works of Ousmane Sembene, the father of African cinema, Azeez loves to make movies with powerful messages. She also gushed about the opportunity to learn which has been provided by the Netflix-UNESCO initiative.
“I believe that one should learn more about the craft as much as possible. Every story is different and is an opportunity to learn. I started as a sound person and I am also a videographer and I edit. Eventually, I would like to be known as a director and producer.
“The arrangement with mentors is a fantastic idea because I felt this whole project is the most expensive film education that could happen. Jen Abbas is very kind. She is invaluable. I could always ask her questions and she has my best interests at heart. She was amazing to work with, she was firm and kind. She would give me feedback that would make me think for days and again it was a lot of learning. Having a mentor saves you from mistakes that you could have made,’’ she said.