Labi Odebunmi, a young British-Nigerian filmmaker, is set to premiere
in Nigeria a breezy documentary that will educate Nigerians back home
about the rise and dominance of Nigerian culture in the United kingdom.
Premiering
on Soundcity, an urban lifestyle channel, at 3pm on Saturday, 15
August, the special documentary will debut with a focus on Moelogo, a
British-Nigeria music star and first Afrobeat artiste to sign a
recording deal with Island Records, one of the world’s most legendary
record labels.
Island Records is part of the Universal Music
Group, the world’s largest record label group and the home of greats
such as Bob Marley and Amy Winehouse.
The documentary will cover
Moelogo’s moment in June 2014 at the Island Records’ headquarters in
London when he signed the recording deal. It will also include an
interview segment with emphasis on his background, his music career, his
day-to-day itinerary with the production crew, his video shoot and
personal experience on the rise of African culture in terms of music in
the UK.
According
to the London-based director, the documentary will expose some of the
cultural realities about Nigerians abroad through the personalities he
will feature on the programme.
“I want to give average Nigerians
who may not have the opportunity to fly to London to have the feel of
the society and appreciate the cultural realities being imbibed by most
Nigerians in the Diaspora,” Labi explained.
He noted that while a
lot of Nigerians at home are looking at UK and America for inspiration,
many of their peers abroad are having a reawakening and looking at home
for cultural education and copy the cultural values.
“We have got
to that stage in the UK where white folks including those at West End
now dance to Nigerian music at their clubs and even play our Afrobeat
songs on their radio stations. The other day, Wizkid’s ‘Ojuelegba’ was
played on the influential Capital FM and everybody could feel the vibe.
This is because of the Nigerian culture which gives originality to the
genre of music they play,” he added.
The young upcoming filmmaker
disclosed that he has listed a number of African achievers that will
also be featured very soon on the programme to tell their stories.
Labi
is the son of ace broadcaster and owner of popular Obalende Suya
London, Tokunbo Odebunmi. A first class graduate of Film and Television
from the University of Hartfordshire, he has been creating visuals in
film, music video and other productions.
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