Tunde Kelani
Tunde Kelani is a Nigerian filmmaker, storyteller, director, photographer, cinematographer and producer. He is the Founder of Mainframe Film & Television Productions, a media company formed to document Nigeria’s rich culture.
In his career spanning more than four decades, Kelani specialises in producing movies that promote Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage and have a root in documentation, archiving, education, entertainment and promotion of the culture.
Kelani is also known for his love of adaptation of literary material into movies as most of his works have followed that style of filmmaking, including Ko se Gbe, O le ku, Thunder Bolt, The Narrow Path, White Handkerchief, Maami and Dazzling Mirage.
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Kelani was introduced to Yoruba literature from an early stage in his life, and was also greatly influenced by theater as the Yorubas have a very strong theater tradition.
An advocate of ‘Alternative Technology’ in motion picture production in Africa, Kelani has successfully produced and directed two digital features,Saworoide and Thunderbolt. He also completed work on his latest digital film ‘Agogo-eewo’ shot on widescreen digitally on Dvcam.
In addition to the M-net short features films, ‘Twins of the Rainforest’,’A Place Called Home’ and ‘Barber’s Wisdom’ , he also photographed, produced and directed a short feature in ‘The White Handkerchief’ in the same series. He has since added The Campus Queen’ Abeni and The Narrow Path, the first set of works to probe further the possibilities of advanced digital filmmaking.
Kelani recently added a new film Arugba which has just concluded free, open-air community screenings in 57 local government and development council areas of Lagos State in Nigeria. He uses the Mobile Cinema Project, designed to take information and entertainment to the grassroot.
Kelani completed a diploma in the Art and Technique of Filmmaking from the London International Film School.
Before Mainframe Films, Kelani worked as a BBC TV and Reuters correspondent, and in the Nigerian TV and film industry as a cinematographer.
In his capacity as a cinematographer, some of Kelani’s feature films include: Anikura; Ogun Ajaye; Iya Ni Wura; Taxi Driver; Iwa and Fopomoyo.
In the area of video productions, he has to his credit award-winning feature videos: Ti Oluwa Nile; Ayo Ni Mo Fe; Koseegbe and Oleku, Thunderbolt (Magun), Saworoide, Agogo Eewo, The Campus Queen, Abeni, Narrow Path, Arugba and Maami.