As he clocked 70 last Tuesday, and was admitted into the unofficial “elder club,” notable filmmaker Tunde Alabi-Hundeyin, who is popular as Dudu took time off his well-attended birthday commemoration shindig to asses the Nigerian motion picture space where he is regarded as an icon.

The septuagenarian filmmaker also spoke on how he wants to be remembered. Asked to assess Nollywood, Dudu acknowledged that the industry is doing well, but noted that there are gaps that need to be filled for the industry to do much better. In his words: “The industry is doing well. When I saw the movie ‘Anikulapo’ by Kunle Afolayan, I said this is it’. This is the kind of path we should be taking. But there are gaps that we need to address.

First is scripting. There is not much attention to it. Script is the skeleton of any production. Two – our special effects are very poor. You see the shooting, the fight sequences, accidents, and so on. Some of them are very poorly done. South Africa is way ahead of us. We need to take care of that. Then, the final thing is what I tell people that filmmaking is as delicate as surgery, and so should not be trivialised.

There is no training again. The people who are trained are not making money. There is a need for training. It can’t just be a frivolous industry like that. However, we are getting better with camera quality, sound, and so on. The content is still very important. We should tell our stories in more serious ways. So, going forward, we need to put in more quality and context. By the way, I have been out of the industry for 25 years, but for 23 years I have been on a project and it is getting to a point that things will start happening from my end. When it comes out, I want to redefine film making in Africa, not just Nigeria. What is coming will compensate for the 25 years that I have left the industry.”

And asked how he wants to be remembered, Dudu replied, “As a man who loved life in an organic way; a man who refused to leave his umbilical cord, and who refused to let go of his placenta. Also, as a man will always be a baby in his heart because he doesn’t want to be encumbered with the problems of life and living; a man who just wants to interpret life in his own way, make friends, be contented with whatever he has. But most importantly, as a man who God has taught how to praise Him, and how to be able talk to Him. Additionally, I want to be remembered as a great filmmaker, and as somebody who touched the career of so many artistes.”