kagablog

I bumped into a Nigerian film maker friend of mine called Rin Mola, the other day. It was great to see him. Hadn’t seen him in a while. I had to congratulate him on the release of his movie. He had made it against the odds. The film, The Beautiful Ones Are Born had done well internationally and Rin Mola had to fend off requests for the movie because everyone always asked “when is it being released in this country”. Now it was on circuit for all to see. I had seen it. Rounded up my film gang and went to the Zone to check it out. The film has its problems and I had indicated this to Rin Mola when he first mentioned the project to me but he didn’t listen. Anyway, despite the problems, to my surprise I enjoyed the film. The issues its raised about African youth, the humour and its urban rough feel. I could knock it technically but that would be quite short-sighted. Everyone starts somewhere. Talk to Rin Mola after his tenth film-anyone seen El mariachi? He didn’t seem too excited. I questioned him about this. I was like, man you are living the dream of every wannabe film maker-your movie has been released, there’s a soundtrack-I mean how can you be depressed. He told me a tale which I feel I have to share. As a budding filmmaker I feel people should know the story so avoid it ever happening again.
Rin Mola told me about how the company that was supposed to represent him had tricked him. They had made him believe they had money but had none. Very stupid I told him. You should have consulted a lawyer. He said, he was blinded by trust. Still stupid I said. Then I asked but isn’t the guy who runs that company a Nigerian? Not only Nigerian, he’s from our tribe! I said, and he is playing you like this? Rin Mola shook his head in disgust. He was very worried that this company would not fulfil its obligations to the film. They had tried to lie to him about a grant from the government calling it a loan, they had borrowed money from him and even told him to his face that the movie wasn’t “his fucking movie”. Claiming in public they saved his film yet they hadn’t even finished paying the editor. He had never seen such a display of megalomania. I remarked to him that I had found it strange that the guy’s name had appeared twice on the poster. Rin Mola said he was engaging his lawyers to try and get his film back. He didn’t want a situation where his film was making money years down the line and the guys at the company would claim that they were still paying their costs-meanwhile he was a struggling film maker. I assure him, I didn’t think that would happen but he had to protect his interests. Rin Mola was in tears by now and I really felt sorry for him. Someone came up to him and said “Great movie” and walked away. He told me he couldn’t really enjoy the success because he was still fighting the company. I was running late and I had to leave. As much as I wanted to listen to his sob story I had to go. I asked: “in a nutshell what are you telling me?”
“Beware those that come with smiles. Beware those who come in the name of black brotherhood but are no different from the sharks they want to replace. Beware those in the fancy cars that call themselves producers. Beware those who can switch face so quickly and have lost all their morals in the pursuit of a quick buck. Keep a lawyer close. Beware those who are the enemies of promise”