Foremost Nigerian actor and filmmaker, Lateef Adedimeji has revealed the details of his new movie entitled ‘Lisabi’, describing in a well-detailed form.
With 3000 cast expected to be in the movie and budget rising to over 200 million naira, the soft spoken actor said it is about time to movie industry witnesses something magical from him.
According to Lateef, Lisabi having watched the humiliation of his people, drew up a suicidal plan of going against the mighty Army of the Old Oyo Empire.
Adedimeji while speaking about his style, background, connection to the movie, and historical perception disclosed that he had to go to his hometown to make research about the story of Lisabi, one of the many warriors and liberators of Yorubas.
Although known more for his acting prowess, Adedimeji has over the years risen from a relatively low actor to a superstar whose brand is fast catching up with his contemporaraies not just in the Nigerian movie industry, but on the world stage.
This is just as he revealed that ‘Lisabi’ will show him in another light, bringing out the very best in him and exposing him to fans around the world in a new dimension that many have not seen before.
According to him, “I felt the need for us to know more about our culture and tradition, and also connect to our culture. Although we have so many books about our history, I think it is slowly dying with this time of technology, people do not really read anymore, and i think movies will appeal more to people. Who better to tell our story, than us.”
Tracing the history of movie making in the industry, he said “Talking about the early days of making movies in the country and tracing it as far back as the third quarter of 1988, many movie enthusiasts applauded the release of Nigeria’s first home video, Soso Meji, by the legendary filmmaker, Prince Alade Aromire, whose innovative exploit paved way for the 1992 released sensational two-part thriller, Living In Bondage, by veteran Kenneth Nnebue whose work many still insist is the first Nigerian home video to achieve blockbuster status.
“But, sadly, the creation of many things are responsible for the murdering of other things that used to have a similar function. Before the upgrade to VCD and DVD, we had VHS, then streaming platforms and wide availability of laptops to watch movies were responsible for killing DVD and VCD.
“Now, with the arrival of so many social media platforms, the reading culture is gradually dying among youths as most times when we pick up the phone to reach an ebook there is a lot of interesting stuff to distract us.
Furthermore, he revealed that his quest to educate people on the importance of culture and history led him to make Lisabi.
“Fast forward to 2023, in my quest to educate and entertain my fans through making great movies at AL NOTIONS, I have gone to my hometown to research about one of the many warriors and liberators of the Yorubas — a young energetic farmer cum warrior who felt his people have had enough of the excesses of the Ilaris of the Old Oyo Empire.
“The Old Oyo Empire, during its dreaded apogee (1650 – 1750), flexed its hegemony over many states between the Volta River in the west and the Niger River in the east.
“There were so many tributary states, and, in order to keep things in check, Ilaris, or Ajeles as some prefer to call them, are installed. These were the equivalent of Count or Earl in the British Empire.
“The Ilaris lived like kings and soon start to disrespect their hosts. LISABI is coming!” he said.
