Kunle Afolayan’s ‘The Figurine’ is back

With contributions to the 455-page book by renowned authors such as Dr. Sola Osofisan, Dr. Dele Layiwola, Dr. Chukwuma Okoye, Jane Thorburn, Matthew H. Brown, Gideon Tanimonure, A.G.A Bello, Foluke Ogunleye and Prof. Hyginus Ekwuazi, an ‘Afterword’ on “Neo-Nollywood and its Other” by the prolific scholar, Dr. Onookome Okome, is also provided in the book in addition to series of interviews with key actors and technicians that featured in the film.

Kunle Afolayan has since shot two other well-acclaimed films – Phone Swap and October 1 (which will be premiered on October 1, 2014 in Lagos).

“We have always said we should tell our stories. But I believe it goes beyond mere rhetorics and images on the screen,” Afolayan said.

“Releasing one’s movie to scholarly interrogation like this is one of the next levels for our film industry to climb and I’m excited that this is already happening through my film.”

The yet-to-be released book is already receiving critical acclaims, renowned  journalist/film Critic and helmsman of Relentless Media, Steve Ayorinde, applauding its arrival “at a time that the Nigerian film industry is opening up to the Academy Awards and is also being duly acknowledged as a major contributor to the Nigerian economy”.

“The book fulfills two roles — championing a new and positive development in cinematic and literary studies in Nigeria by focusing exclusively on the work of a single cineaste while also expanding the narrative around a film industry that continues to announce its arrival on the global scene in a spectacular way,” Ayorinde said.

Former secretary-general of Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) and  lecturer at the Institute of African Studies, Carlton University, Ottawa, Canada, Dr. Nduka Otiono described the book as being “seminal in its inauguration of a new chapter in the study of Nigeria’s phenomenal contribution to global film culture.

“It makes a strong case for a more in-depth artistic and critical approach to the study of Nollywood that triangulates around orality,” Otiono added.

Of the book, Dr. Akin Adesokan of Indiana University, Bloomington, USA, said: “It is comprehensive and informed about its subject and in unexpected ways gives solidity to the characterization of Nollywood as ‘telling our own stories’”.

Director-General of the national broadcasting commission, Mr. Emeka Mba, and the director of Nollywood Study Centre, Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos, Dr. Ikechukwu Obiaya will review the book at the launch.