Focus to bring Fela to the screen

By Peter Bowen December 08, 2009

One of the most influential figures of the 20th century is finally getting his due. The Nigerian musician and activist Fela Anikulapo Kuti (aka Fela), who is currently being celebrated in a hit Broadway show Fela!, will also be brought to the screen by English artist and filmmaker Steve McQueen (whose film Hunger was universally applauded). McQueen will write the script with Biyi Bandele, using Michael Veal’s biography Fela: The Life and Times of an African Musical Icon as a source.

In the sixties, Fela fused jazz, funk and rock with West African rhythms to create a musical style called Afrobeat. In the next few decades, this truly modern mix would reverberate around the world. James Brown went so far as to call him the father of funk. But Fela went beyond being a musical figure by standing up to oppression in Nigeria. Continually attacked by the government, Fela used his music and celebrity to bring change to his homeland.

The Broadway show and the recent reissue of his catalog (nearly 45 albums worth) by Knitting Factory Records showcase Fela’s musical genius, the film version hopes to also address the political and social aspects of the man. According to Focus CEO James Schamus, “Fela was a revolutionary figure in world culture, and Steve [McQueen] is an artist who had a strong vision of politics and the world even before he made his first film. They are kindred spirits."