Tunde Kelani, popularly known as TK, is a Nigerian filmmaker, storyteller, director, photographer, cinematographer and producer. The iconic film maker turned 70 on Monday 26th of February.
For some people the news is not surprising but for others, it is a matter of a little surprise because they did not know that their darling entertainer was that close to the ‘septuagenarians’ coven. They felt that his slender nature if not tiny frame, tender attitude and his continued relevance and hard work belong to a man in his late fifties or early sixties. That is just a thought as TK is completely 70.
Tunde Kelani was born on 26 February 1948, in a career spanning more than four decades, TK specializes in producing movies that promote Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage and have a root in documentation, archiving, education, entertainment and promotion of the culture.
He is also known for his love of adaptation of literary material into movies as most of his works have followed that style of film making including Ko se Gbe, Oleku, Thunder Bolt, The Narrow Path, White Handkerchief, Maami and Dazzling Mirage. At an early age, he was sent to Abeokuta, to live with his grandparents. The rich Yoruba culture and tradition he experienced in his early years, coupled with the experience he garnered at the London Film School where he studied the art of film making, prepared him for what he is doing today.
In 1991, Tunde Kelani started his own production company, Mainframe Films and Television Productions – Opomulero, so he could produce films and not just lend technical support. Having emerged from the world of theatre and literature, adaptations of books and plays for cinema are the core of Kelani’s filmmaking practice and through them he celebrates writers and their work to what he sees as a public that reads less and less.
His Latest work, Dazzling Mirage, an adaptation from a novel by Olayinka Egbokhare, is a love story of how a sickle-cell suffer overcomes social stigma, prejudice and her own low self-esteem, to achieve success, marriage and motherhood. Through the movie, he hopes to bring much needed awareness and attention to the sickle-cell condition and help people make better informed decisions.
