Issue 01: Damilola Orimogunje: Frames, Ills and Vulnerability

In this exclusive interview, Damilola Orimogunje talks about creating indie films, his worldview of storytelling, the mainstream industry and his idea

Damilola Orimogunje: Frames, Ills and Vulnerability

In this exclusive interview, Damilola Orimogunje talks about creating indie films, his worldview of storytelling, the mainstream industry and his ideal world of cinematic experience.

By Adedeji Adebusuyi 

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We are not bereaved of the right stories to tell, are we? I do question.

Stories create a reflection of our experiences; not just to relive them, but to shape our perspectives of them. They connect the fragments of the human’s bespoke souls with sounds, silence and motions, creating a resonating feeling of mutuality without necessarily blurring the lines between passion and reality, and the masters of this art are somewhat themselves unique stories carved up in common appearances. “Love the art. Care about the audience,” Damilola opines while talking about emotional resonance and authentic in filmmaking. As such, if truly, stories mirror experiences but the auteurs become timid, what becomes of the stories that need being told? Many of this similar question resurge in my mind when thinking about the state of Africa’s motion picture industry.

While there had been a remarkable shift in the portrayal of African stories in the last decade, it is undeniable that the mainstream film industry still has a long way to go in screening bold stories and that indie filmmaking is leaning more towards that balance of creativity, unhinged and unconventional stories and human resonance. An auteur at the center of this cinematic vision is Damilola Orimogunje.

"Being indie is about artistic autonomy, the freedom to tell a story without compromising its integrity or quality."

Damilola Orimogunje is a Nigerian filmmaker, screenwriter and director whose non-conservative approach towards the screen art of storytelling has rooted him as one of the fast-rising independent filmmakers in Africa. His narrative style creates a landscape that encourages the growth of a long-existing, but subtly revealed or rather more emphatically, “recently popularized breed of African storytelling”—one that recurs homegrown experiences and societal ills with open vulnerability inside the minds of the audience. His stories are filled with slow-burning plots that entertain with substance.

In his early years, Damilola worked as a TV producer and screenwriter before making his first short film. As a filmmaker, his films have screened at over 200 film festivals, revolving around societal themes such as love, betrayal, death, and depression. His debut feature film, For Maria Ebun Pataki, sheds light on the traumatic experience of a new mother who goes through postpartum depression. The film was nominated six times at the African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) and won the Audience Choice for Best Narrative Feature Award at Film Africa 2020.

"In recent times, indie filmmaking is gaining traction with several platforms, festivals and easy-to-use tools offering indie filmmakers the needed placements, environments and creative independence to create. The term “indie” is not solitarily defined by hinges such as budget constraints or the scale of the stories being told, but rather by the autonomY to create, Damilola reveals."

His joint project with Babatunde Apalowo, titled All the Colours of the World Are Between Black and White, received critical reviews and won the award for the Best Feature Film at the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival. Damilola Orimogunje's new project, "Dear Ajayi" is currently in its post-production stage after many years of it being shelved. 

Having this interview with Damilola Orimogunje came with its own struggle for pace and sometimes, clarity on my part unlike Damilola’s passion-led decision to be a filmmaker which felt natural. His journey into independent filmmaking never really felt like a choice. “It never really felt like a choice, I had to start with small budget projects and the ideology of storytelling that drew me to make films was not popular in the mainstream,” he says.

In recent times, indie filmmaking is gaining traction with several platforms, festivals and easy-to-use tools offering indie filmmakers the needed placements, environments and creative independence to create. The term “indie” is not solitarily defined by hinges such as budget constraints or the scale of the stories being told, but rather by the autonomy, Damilola reveals. “Being indie is about artistic autonomy, the freedom to tell a story without compromising its integrity or quality. For him, he feels most in his element when he is in complete command of the work.”

The same notion reflected in his response when he was asked about the stance of indie films “as vehicles of personal vision” and the tendency of such projects getting compromised by the needs for investments, distributions and audiences in order to survive in the African market. Ideally, the doubts are about whether indie filmmakers can truly prioritize creativity, ideas and personal stories over financial realities. To the latter, Damilola used his past projects as a strong standpoint, confirming that he had experienced financial success with all his projects; hence, his differing opinion on the subject of financial realities and filmmakers’ artistic autonomy.

“I think presently, a good indie film with the right strategy, has more options in the market than a local mainstream film,” he says. “The opportunities in the global market are numerous, and quality gets you there.”

Furthermore, Damilola talks about the viewpoint and lens from which his stories are narrated. “I’m drawn to neo-realism. My worldview is to approach human experiences and societal ills with authenticity, stripping them down to their most human and vulnerable form,” he professes.

Also, while considering the place of subjectivity in the interpretation of stories, he says, “I like to leave room for the audience to interpret stories in their own way. I believe honest and authentic storytelling will always find its audience and create connections.” Instead of striving for a single, universal interpretation of his story, he pursues individual resonance—one that leaves each audience the freedom to accept, reveal, interpret and experience the core message of the film differently in a unique way as it connects with them.

This perspective was shaped by an early experience in his career, he reveals. “Early in my career I screened a short film at a Nigerian festival and received mixed reactions because of its unconventional storytelling. I was actually happy about that, because I dreaded being regular and playing it safe. It made me feel I was on the right path,” Damilola claims.

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