Wole Soyinka-Inspired Film ‘Ake’ Released On Amazon

Nollywood movie inspired by Wole Soyinka’s classic autobiographical novel, “Ake: The Years of Childhood”, has been released on Amazon.com.

“Ake: The Years of Childhood” tells the story of Soyinka’s boyhood before and during World War II in a Yoruba village in western Nigeria called Aké, where the author spent the first 12 years of his life.

The story climaxes with the Egba women’s riot of 1945, led by Mrs Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, mother of the late legend musician Fela Anikulapo-Kuti.

The movie was shot at various locations including, Abeokuta, Ibadan, Lagos and East Grinstead, UK, it has been screened in Lagos and at film festivals in Cannes, France and the United States. The French subtitles were contributed by Alliance Francaise in Nigeria.

Produced by Back Page Productions, the film featured a cast of nearly 1,000 actors and actresses, including some of Nigeria’s foremost professionals in the film and theatre industries, such as Taiwo Ajayi-Lycett, Yinka Davies, Yeni-Anikulapo-Kuti, Jimi Solanke, LanikeOnimisi-Bennet, Festus Adegboye Onigbinde, Alex Bratt, Gbenga Ajiboye, Hafiz Oyetoro, Yemi Solade, Wale Ramon, Wale Adebayo, Toyin Abiodun, Bose Oladele, Joke Muyiwa, Samsideen Adesiyan and Bayo Bankole.

Executive Producer and Director of the film, Mr Dapo Adeniyi, made this movie release known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Friday.

He said, “Echoes from the war were heard distinctly in Abeokuta by its enlightened communities on rediffusion radio, the headmaster of the local mission school inclusive, who was the writer’s father.

“Ake is not an overt historical account but one which relays a crucial chapter in Nigerian history from the eye-witness of a child. The Egba women’s riot, directed by Mrs Kuti, Soyinka’s aunt, was conceived and hatched under his eyes. His mother Eniola, participated as one of the closest collaborators with Kuti in the women’s movement.

“The movie valiantly overcomes the usual production challenges in the recreation of film scenery and props, period automobiles and architecture of a bygone era.”