In the Caribbean, African
movies bridge racial gaps, says producer-actor, Justin Duru
By NWAGBO NNENYELIKE and CAJETAN NKWOPARA
Friday , August13, 2004
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• Ambassador Justice Duru
Photo: By Sun News
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Ambassador Justin Duru’s name may not yet be a household
one in Nigeria. But he is a name to reckon with in the Caribbean
countries. His activities in the St. Maartens have turned
him to a force to reckon with to the extent that he was made
a cultural ambassador. His effort is geared towards bridging
the African-Caribbean gap using film and television as well
as radio programmes.
Duru acts, produces and promotes African, especially Nigerian
film, literature and cultures. His works have generated more
interest in people who wish to know more about Africans. For
this, the Federal Government, under General Abdulsalami Abubakar,
aided him with funds. Now, he wants Africa to shine in the
Caribbean through the first African film festival billed for
November 6 to 13 this year.
Background
I am Ambassador Justin Duru. I hail from Umuaka in Njaba Local
Government Area of Imo State. I am a graduate of Theatre Arts,
from the University of Ibadan. I specialised in Television
Production and Business Management. I once worked at the Nigerian
Television Authority, NTA before I resigned. I am an actor,
writer, producer and director.
As an actor
I acted in the Village Headmaster, Masquerades which later
became New Masquerades. I played many roles, like the villager,
a police officer, and Okoro’s brother who came from
the village. On stage, I played several roles in plays like
Queen Amina of Zaria, Things Fall Apart and Gods Are No to
Blame. I worked with so many experienced artistes like Bassey
Effiong, Israel Eboh among others.
Going to the Caribbean
I did not run away from Nigeria. I left because I got an offer
from Leeward Broadcasting Corporation Television, LBCTV, Channel
7 in St. Maartens, Caribbean. So I went there to see how viable
it could be and it turned out to be good. I was made the Programme
director of the station and I took the challenge by staying
on.
African Caribbean programmes
There are many programmes we run on the African Caribbean
Network, ACN to bridge the African-Caribbean Island gap. This
was as far back as 1996. We produced them on Africa in the
radio and television. The title of the programme is Sunrise
for Africa. We showcased Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall
Apart, Professor Ali Mazrui’s African Peoples Heritage,
a documentary, New Masquerades, Tales By Moonlight. It served
as an educational and enlightenment programme for the Caribbean.
Nigeria The Giant of Africa, a special documentary on Nigeria
was presented to celebrate Nigerian independence day. Similarly,
we run other programmes to reflect other African countries.
These programmes enabled the audience to see the original
African setting. Throughout the Caribbean, there are Cable
Television Network broadcasts, purely on American programmes.
The only news they give about Africa are distorted. They present
wrong image about Africa. Our programme brought light for
people to realise that there is something different about
Africa. Right now, most schools in the Caribbean use Things
Fall Apart aside from their curriculum. We are still working
to see that more of African Literature are used in the Schools.
African movies
In Sunrise Africa in 1999, we put African movies on television.
There was lack of fund to air them, because we had American
market to contend with. But it was essential to promote African
films. I felt obliged because being part of the Motion Picture
Industry, I think I owe the industry that responsibility.
So it was a contribution towards developing the market. I
have been able to show African movies especially those from
Nigeria eight months non-stop. The movies were shown on Sundays
and Mondays for three hours in stations like :CVN Jamaica,
ABS TV Antigua, and television stations in St Maartens, St
Kiths. It was not a commercial venture but for enlightenment,
so we were paying for the airtime. To this extent we bought
some equipment to aid the stations. Some of the movies were:
Agony, Diamond Ring, Battle of Musanga, Glamour Girls, Blood
Money among others.
The African film festival
The film festival is christened Sunrise Africa. I feel it
is time for the African sun to rise in the Caribbean. We are
expecting about 13 African countries: Nigeria, Ghana, South
Africa, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Burkina Fasso, Morocco, Tanzania,
Kenya, Tunisia among others. The programmes earmarked are:
Seminar on the need to promote and market African films in
the Caribbean. Apart from the ones we have shown on television,
nobody knows about African films. There are educational workshops
on African films for the Caribbean youth, film show involving
special screening in the theatres and cinema, a weeklong exhibition
that will create room for direct sales to the public during
the festival. In addition, we will create an avenue for interaction.
There will be full participation from the Caribbean newspapers,
television and radio. We are collaborating with the Caribbean
Broadcasting Union, Radio Swaliga, Afro-Carrib Communications
as well as Calypso Tours.
Reactions
The reaction of the Caribbeans was good. People call on us
to express their feelings. The only negative reaction was
for the ritual dominated movies. They have this feeling that
we have voodoo in Africa. But one thing they realised was
that at the end, the movies show that good triumphs over evil.
They do not seem to see such lessons in the American movies.
For the fact that they see To God be the glory at the end
of every movie made them believe that Africans are strong
Christians. From the location, they feel the kind of houses
and the car they see portray Africa as a beautiful environment.
Changing African image through movies
They believe there is nothing good about Africa. They learn
from the CNN that Africa is all about famine and war. In fact,
no TV station shows the good side of Africa. But the programme
really laundered African image.
Due to lack of fund, we stopped airing the movies, but so
many people started calling us asking why we stopped. They
said that they were seeing something authentic from Africa
and we do not want it continued. The reality was that we stopped
it because there was no more fund.
Abdulsalami Abubakar
Former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, in his
appreciation funded our programmes. There was a time we planned
a visit of some Caribbean citizens down to Nigeria, but we
could not go ahead because of some obvious reasons. But the
government on both sides really appreciated the proposals.
I was overwhelmed when I got a call from Washington that the
Federal Government had a message for me. Behold it was money
to support in my projects.
Benefits
The benefits of the festival are enormous. It is quite unfortunate
that our people see benefits in terms of immediate money.
I have had course to meet with all the professional bodies
irrespective of the poor turn out. It was all about knowing
that a market is being developed for their works. After the
festival, African movies would constantly show in the Caribbean
stations and all the royalty will be paid to the filmmakers.
The video rental clubs must pay for the films they take. We
are talking of about 40 Caribbean Islands and all the Islands
belong to territories like French, Dutch, Spanish and English.
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