Nigerian writer and filmmaker Wisdom Deji-Folutile makes his directorial debut with ‘Able Leader,’ a short film set to screen at the 2024 Ibadan Indie Film Awards. The festival, created to recognise young Nigerian Indie Filmmakers, holds November 29-30, 2024.
Based loosely on real-life events, ‘Able Leader’ puts a comedic lens on bureaucracy and governance in Nigeria. Set in a corporate environment, the story follows a self-absorbed leader navigating the absurdities of his daily operations, juggling the demands of his eccentric staff, alongside public scrutiny. All the while, he tries to maintain his image amidst a series of comedic blunders.
‘Able Leader’, shot entirely in Lagos, was written and directed by Wisdom Deji-Folutile. The film was co-produced by Victor Egwuom, with Moyosore “Mo” Obanubi providing cinematography and Ebube Anyanwu providing production design.
The film stars fast-rising standup comedian Ose ‘Certified’, comic Fulfillment Siyanbola, and other early-career actors like Tolu Ladipo, Tobi Branch, Joey Jonathan, Harryson Aihie, and Deji-Folutile himself, who acts as the eponymous lead.
According to Deji-Folutile, who also works as a journalist for AF24NEWS, ‘Able Leader’ is mostly based on national headlines from the last 30 years.
He disclosed that the story brings light to the absurdities of governmental decisions, including the exploration of mismanagement, embezzlement, mis-prioritization, and gross misconduct, examining the country’s government landscape from a comedic perspective.
Citing examples from as far back as the 1990s, to reports like the 2018 scandal where a clerk told auditors that a snake ate N36m, Deji-Folutile believes the film is an important examination of Nigeria’s age-long leadership challenges.
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“Even though we are attempting to contextualise things in a comedic way, it is all really serious. And the way the film was made, we made sure every issue we ‘joke about’ can be mapped– sometimes extremely pin-pointedly–to a real story or headline that we have all heard at some point,” he stated.
The film, which received a limited release with private screening sessions in Lagos on September 29, 2024; will start screening in festivals worldwide from November 29, 2024.
“As a journalist, you are instructed as best practice to not editorialise news reports. Making this project from a filmmaking perspective gave me room to express not my personal opinion, but what has been gleaned to be the collective realities of millions of Nigerians.
“Working as a journalist for the last few years, writing the most ridiculous headlines on the most outrageous subject matters, sometimes it really felt like Nigeria is not a real place. Turns out it isn’t. ‘Able Leader’ puts Nigerian headlines where they belong—in a mockumentary,” Deji-Folutile stated.
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