Director: Alex Gibney
Cast: Fela Kuti, Yeni Kuti, Femi Kuti, Bill T. Jones, Tony Allen
Certificate: 15
Alex Gibney, known in the film world for making documentary after documentary, returns with FINDING FELA, a retrospective on the life of Nigerian political activist and musician Fela Kuti.
Born and raised in Nigeria, Fela (born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti) was brought up in a comfortable family environment, eventually being sent off to England to study medicine. Musical from an early age, he moved away from his education into writing and playing music, forming several bands and founding the popular club Africa Shrine. Alongside his musical aspirations, Fela was a human rights activist and prominent political contender, inspired by the Black Panther Party of the 1960s and 1970s, spurring his audiences into creating change and protesting for freedom.
While many would conform to the traditional format of a documentary, Gibney takes a different stance on telling the story of Fela’s life, switching between archive footage, present day interviews and clips from the Broadway musical Fela! While the archival footage gives the audience a clear idea of Fela in his prime, angry and ready to take action, the interviews (primarily with Fela’s children and close friends) give context, an almost behind-the-scenes explanation to the man behind the words. Revealing details of his activism, musical career and personal life (a ‘fan’ of polygamy, at one point married to twenty-seven women), Fela is described as a legend of Nigeria, leading to Tony-award winning director Bill T. Jones and Afrobeat band Antibalas developing the stage play Fela! Combining transcriptions from speeches given by Fela himself, and music taken from his gigs at Africa Shrine, the clips from the musical really bring the documentary to life, more entertaining than any regular feature.
While Gibney’s introduction of stage-play clips gives this documentary a lively, energetic vibe, the documentary’s traditional format and standard chronology stop it from being anything more than a life story feature. However, FINDING FELA is a solid attempt at bringing Fela’s spirit to the screen, and a great introduction to the history of Nigeria’s struggle.
[usr=3] FINDING FELA is released on DVD today from Dogwoof.
