BY LOUISE
“The same way you have misrepresentation in Christianity, you have in Islam and that’s the same in traditional religion.”- Kunle Afolayan
Nollywood filmmaker, Kunle Afolayan has stated that the Nigerian film industry has grossly misrepresented the African traditional religions. He made this claim in an interview on SKY 452’s show “For the Record” with UK-based Nigerian, DJ Abass.
“There’s a lot of misrepresentation through our films,” Kunle Afolayan explained in the interview.
The “The Figurine” producer included that there has been a misinterpretation of several traditional values in films.
“Some of the chants and the use of it are often misused. When you see a proper babalawo, they say ‘oh come on, you don’t do this’. The way the shrines is presented; the way the babalawos are presented is misrepresented.”
Afolayan said the perception of traditionalists by most Nigerians has been influenced by what they watch from the movies.
In a bid to set right this wrongful perception, the filmmaker says that he is keen on getting most of the basics of most of the religions are presented and he tried to “understand the different religion so I can strike a balance.
He went further to note that traditional religions were not the only misrepresented religions.
“The same way you have misrepresentation in Christianity, you have in Islam and that’s the same in traditional religion.”
Kunle Afolayan recently released a teaser for his new movie titles “Mokalik” starring Simi, Tobi Bakare and a host of other talented actors.