Engineering taught me discipline, film gave me purpose – Ife Olujuyigbe on her Nollywood journey

• Ace filmmaker, Ife Olujuyigbe, speaks exclusively with Legit.ng connected her travel successful Nollywood which has seen her write, act, nutrient and direct, among different strides
• The postgraduate of chemic engineering from Obafemi Awolowo University discusses her emergence to stardom, challenges moving successful Nollywood and however she wears galore hats of creativity
• With imprints connected deed movies specified arsenic Reel Love, What About Us, When Are We Getting Married, and Ègún, the 2023 victor of The Future Awards Africa Prize for Film besides had words for young radical with passionateness for filmmaking but are inactive struggling to find their feet

If assemblage degrees ever informed people's careers, award-winning filmmaker Ife Olujuyigbe should beryllium enjoying Nollywood movies successful idiosyncratic protective instrumentality (PPE) and a hard hat, oregon successful the comfortableness of her surviving country aft spending the full week connected an lipid rig, oregon a chemic plant.

But destiny and passionateness said otherwise. And this is simply a publication that’s go a norm these days. Plenty of radical person ended up becoming towering figures successful their fields distant from their world disciplines.

Filmmaker Ife Olujuyigbe shares however she acceptable her engineering grade speech to prosecute a vocation successful Nollywood. Photo credit: @ifekleva
Source: Original

Instead of crunching numbers successful a bluish overall, Ife present breathes beingness into characters connected movie sets. A chemic engineering graduate-turned-filmmaker, writer, shaper and now, musician, she is the benignant of originative who is not restricted by roads oregon paths, she bends them towards what her bosom beats for.

Engineering, therefore, wasn’t a detour, it was a grooming ground, for designing processes and workflows, beryllium they chemicals oregon stories.

“Filmmaking, astatine its core, is problem-solving, and engineering has taught maine to deliberation successful systems,” she explains. “How bash we archer this communicative wrong budget, however bash we make the illusion of a antithetic clip period, oregon physique a unreal Oyo empire determination successful Lagos?“Then there’s the subject it instilled. Studying Engineering was tough. But I went done it and came retired victorious connected the different side. And it helped maine spot that I tin bash hard things. "And I’ll beryllium honest, filmmaking is conscionable arsenic demanding. You person to beryllium capable to deliberation connected your feet, accommodate to situations, and negociate people, time, and resources efficiently portion inactive maintaining the integrity of the story,” she expresses.“So portion I whitethorn not beryllium designing chemic processes, I’m perpetually designing narratives and workflows that bring stories to life.”

How movie critiquing helped my penning - Ife

But earlier becoming a prima filmmaker, Ife had sharpened her dependable reviewing films. She watched movies the mode surgeons survey anatomy, dissecting scenes, analysing dialogue, calling retired the fluff. That crisp oculus followed her into mainstream Nollywood.

“I can’t conscionable propulsion successful a country oregon a enactment of dialog for the involvement of it,” she says. “I’ve spent excessively overmuch clip calling those things retired successful reviews to fto myself autumn into the aforesaid traps.“Also, movie critiquing gave maine perspective. It taught maine what makes a movie genuinely resonate with people, beyond conscionable method brilliance. Emotion. Honesty. The quality to marque an assemblage consciousness deeply,” the OAU graduate adds.

It’s nary wonder, then, that she’s down the scripting of Reel Love and What About Us, the instauration of the buzzy When Are We Getting Married, and the accumulation of Ègún, Obaram and Something Like Gold, each projects that consciousness grounded successful affectional honesty and intentional storytelling.

And portion she wears galore filmmaking hats – writing, producing, directing, to sanction a few, there’s 1 she’s peculiarly fond of: directing.

“That’s wherever I consciousness astir alive. There’s thing similar watching a country unfold the mode you imagined it—or adjacent amended than you imagined it.”

Ife Olujuyigbe opens up connected however movie critiquing helped her go a amended filmmaker.
Source: Original

I started retired penning songs - Ife Olujuyigbe shares

But don’t container her in. Ife is arsenic comfy producing, writing, and adjacent singing. Her debut single, Soul Cry, which went unrecorded connected streaming level weeks ago, is impervious that the storytelling impulse doesn’t extremity with scripts.

She tells Legit.ng, “I started penning songs earlier I ever wrote stories. Even though I got implicit my shyness this late, it’s ne'er excessively precocious to bash what your bosom loves. In fact, I privation to marque an extended playlist sometime soon; flex these soul-filled vocal cords of excavation and spot wherever they instrumentality me.”

Relationships and collaborations

When it comes to moving with people, fashionable manager and 1 of the highest grossing successful Nigeria, Kayode Kasum, stands retired among a fewer others, and Ife admits that there’s a originative chemistry betwixt the 2 of them, hailing him arsenic a machine.

“Kayode is astonishing astatine what helium does. I americium besides truly large astatine my craft, and truthful our communal respect for each different yet drives these collaborations. It besides helps that we are friends. We bash bully enactment together, but we besides person amusive with it. "That equilibrium is precious successful this industry. Plus, we some person an unhealthy addiction to films, truthful it works out. Well, him much than me; Kayode is simply a machine.”

Challenges that travel with filmmaking successful Nigeria

Despite the glamour that comes with being astatine the forefront of filmmaking, it hasn’t each been creaseless sailing. She references the urgency to crook successful scripts wrong excessively abbreviated a clip to decently navigator them, recognition oversights, and “working connected a task that has excessively galore cooks who flip you backmost and distant with their indecision” arsenic immoderate of the challenges.

She past adds, “Producing successful Nigeria is its ain peculiar marque of chaos.” One project, Eluku, changeable successful 2018, inactive lives rent-free successful her representation arsenic “four of the astir chaotic days” of her life. But adjacent the mayhem couldn’t dull her passion. “It ever ends up being worthy it successful the end,” she enthuses.

Recognitions

Expectedly, for each her exploits, designation has followed. An AMVCA nomination, a shiny gong from The Future Awards Africa but Ife says she’s not chasing trophies.

“Awards are great, but interaction matters more. The biggest designation is erstwhile radical archer maine they saw my enactment and connected with it. There’s nary feeling greater than that.”

But she confesses with a whisper,

“Still doesn’t mean I don’t privation an Oscar. Just a tiny one. Or two. Or 10. A BAFTA? Absolutely!”

Ife connected lessons learnt successful Nollywood

Ask her what she’s learned successful Nollywood, and her reply sounds similar a masterclass successful originative resilience.

“First, timing is everything. There’s a play for hard, thankless work, for serving, for putting your caput down and putting successful the hours, and past there’s a play for reaping the rewards. It's indispensable to recognize that occurrence seldom happens overnight.“Second, radical matter. Every azygous idiosyncratic you meet, from the PA connected acceptable to the biggest movie executive, has the imaginable to interaction your career, possibly adjacent alteration your life. Treat everyone with respect, kindness, and professionalism, careless of their presumption oregon status. You ne'er cognize who mightiness clasp the cardinal to your adjacent large opportunity.“Lastly, I've learned the value of lasting up for myself and taking power of my craft. In an manufacture wherever everyone is looking retired for their ain interests, it's important to beryllium proactive and assertive. Don't permission your vision, voice, oregon vocation trajectory successful idiosyncratic else's hands. Don’t hold for idiosyncratic to springiness you permission. Take charge, dictate your ain path, and ever beryllium mindful of your worthy and worth arsenic a originative professional.”

Advice for aspiring Nollywood practitioners

To young women hoping to interruption into the industry, Ife’s proposal is elemental but radical: get wide connected who you are and what you want.

“Once you cognize that, the satellite opens up. And listen, women are sidesplitting it successful Nollywood, truthful you person galore greats to look up to. You person an advantage.”

What’s adjacent for Ife Olujuyigbe?

“Everything,” she shares. More films, much stories, different single, possibly a book.

“Tomorrow isn’t promised. So I privation to bash it all.”

AMVCA 10th: Massive nighttime for Breath of Life arsenic Funke Akindele gets snubbed again

Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that the 10th awards of the African Magic Viewers Choice Award (AMVCA) was a monolithic night for Amazon's Breath of Life arsenic it made a scoop of immoderate of the biggest accolades connected the night.

However, Funke Akindele again missed retired connected the champion histrion grant arsenic Kehinde Bankole took location the gong for her relation

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Source: Legit.ng