Ake… film on Wole Soyinka now in French, goes to Cannes

There is good news for the film adaptation of Wole Soyinka’s Ake which is also billed to be screened in the city of Cannes in France during Festival International du Film PanAfricain de Cannes opening on Saturday, April 16, 2016.

The film scheduled for a worldwide release in 2016 was shown to cast, crew and friends on December 3 at MUSON Centre’ s Agip hall and was well attended by figures in entertainment, government, the diplomatic community and the corporate world.

The French translation of the film has been undertaken by Alliance Francaise in Nigeria to pave way for a wider participation by the film’s French audience in Cannes.

Throughout the month of April, 2016 AFRICA MAGIC, a broadcast ping a platform on the paytv network is having a month-long run of Ake’s inaugural screening in Lagos featuring reports, views and interviews both by the prominent faces among the production’s cast and crew, but also by some of the guests who graced the MUSON Centre screening.

Kenyan Airways also announced its partnership with Ake film during the week – on Monday April 11.
The partnership is aimed at helping to transport the film and its team to as many destinations in recognition of the film’s importance as a vital export item for the African continent.

In a statement by Diran Oloyede of the airline’s corporate department, an airline of Kenyan Airways’ stature is the right carrier for a film of Ake’s calibre that needs to get to as many places on the globe.
‘We are Africa’s star carrier and even though we touch different key destinations globally, our core market is Africa. That is why it is our strategic priority to grow African business.’

Ake, Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka’s childhood memoir was published in 1981 and it achieved immediate critical and international acclaim. It has been read by millions of people across the globe.

Set in World War 2 years, between 1937 and 1945, it covers the first eleven years of the author’s life in Ake, Abeokuta. There he witnessed firsthand the formation of the famous Egba Women’s Union led by Mrs Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, mother of the late musical legend, Fela and the writer’s mother Eniola Soyinka. Mrs Kuti is also reputed to be the first Nigerian woman to own and drive a car.

The film climaxes with the Egba women’s riot of 1945 which deposed the powerful Alake of Egbaland temporarily and also secured an abolition of poll tax on women and the universal adult suffrage, laws still in force until the present throughout Nigeria.
Dapo Adeniyi, Executive Producer and director of the film says the screening of the film in Cannes is only the beginning. The film will soon reach its audience in Nigeria, Africa and the world.

Press accreditations and festival passes are available at Novotel Cannes Montfleurys