TONY OKUYEME 
- …as ‘Mothers of Chibok’ premieres in cinemas February 27
- It’s important documentary films are woven into theatre culture
Joel Kachi Benson is an award-winning Nigerian documentary filmmaker and virtual reality content creator, and the Creative Director of virtual reality film studios, VR360 Stories, based in Lagos. In 2018, he produced ‘In Bakassi’, the first VR documentary by a Nigerian filmmaker, which premiered at the Cairo Film Festival in November 2018, and also screened at the Berlin Film Festival and Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.
In 2019, Benson produced ‘Daughters of Chibok’, which won the Venice Lion for Best Immersive Story (Linear), making him the first African filmmaker to win the Venice Lion in this category. In this interview with TONY OKUYEME, he talks about his latest documentary film, ‘Mothers of Chibok’, set to be screened in cinemas in Nigeria, among other issues
Tell us how your journey as a documentary filmmaking started?
I’m very drawn to factual stories. I think that it presents windows into walls that we sometimes are not aware of, or can come in contact with. Factual stories are really like a mirror for society, and you’re able to sort shine or spotlight on served, underserved communities. You can tell stories that inspire.
You can tell stories that motivate. But because they are founded on, truth and real people, I think that they have the potential to have even a stronger impact on the viewers, on the audience. So, I’m drawn to these stories. I want to use these stories to amplify voices and shine a spotlight on communities that are unserved or underserved.
And the idea of using virtual reality…
In my work, I use different types of mediums. So, I use virtual reality; but I also use 2D, just regular 2D filmmaking. Virtual reality is a technology that I think gives your film even more presence.
So, you’re able to take people and, sort of, like, transport them to these places that they would otherwise not be able to access. So, you wear the headset and it’s like you’re there. It’s a new motion. You can look around, and it’s like you’re there. It’s a fantastic technology. I don’t use it for all my films, but I think it’s a very powerful tool for storytelling.
So, the communities, where you focus, is it in Nigeria alone?
I would call myself a Pan-African filmmaker, but I live in Nigeria. So, the bulk of my stories would be from Nigeria. But I’ve filmed in other parts of the continent – Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and a few other places. But I’m also still doing more. I have a project I’m doing in Dakar. I’m doing some stuff in South Africa, and in Kenya. So, it’s wherever the story takes me, but most often it’s, here.
What’s the idea behind the film that got you the Emmy Award?
The title of the film is ‘Madu’. It’s the story of this young Nigerian boy who went viral in 2020. He was dancing ballet in the rain and he posted the video. And the video went viral, which was during the pandemic. And such a beautiful video of a young boy pursuing a dream that people around him were telling him it’s not possible.
And so, I was brought in contact with the story and the producers, myself, my co-director, came together and put together a package and we pitched it and got funding, and we made it. I think it’s a story of resilience. I mean, this is a kid that lives in Ajangbadi, Lagos. We used to live in Ajangbadi. But pursuing this really, almost like an elite’s dream.
Yeah, you know what I mean? How many kids from the ghetto are dreaming of becoming ballet dancers? And it’s a boy and everybody was teasing him and saying, “Why are you dancing like a girl?” All this kind of stuff. But today, he’s in Elmhurst Ballet School, Birmingham, UK, one of the most prestigious ballet schools in the world. Yes, yes, he’s in Birmingham, Elmhurst Ballet School. So, that’s the power of storytelling. It can really amplify voices.
Apart from ‘Madu’, you also did ‘In Bakassi’, ‘Daughter of Chibok’, and now ‘Mother of Chibok’. Why do you choose to take on those kind of stories?
Well, with ‘In Bakassi’, it’s not about the Bakassi Peninsula. Bakassi is an IDP camp, or used to be an IDP camp in Maiduguri, where people who were displaced by Boko Haram were staying. So, the camp is called Bakassi IDP camp.
So, it’s not related in a sense to Bakassi Peninsula. But there was a story about it, during the whole Bakassi issue, about Bakassi Peninsula displacements, they used that place for some of the people who were displaced, but it was never used. Then, they had the Boko Haram insurgency, and the people had to stay there.
The bigger question is, why do I take on those kind of stories? Somebody has to. We can’t shy away from the serious subject matters. As much as we love entertainment, and comedy, laughter, there are also times for us to be reflecting about the state of things and all of that. I’m drawn to those stories, because I feel like they are also important stories to tell, the same way that they are not the only stories about us. So, everybody sort of has their parts to play.
But, you know, with the Chibok story, for instance, that’s a story that has lived with us for over a decade; a story that the final chapter hasn’t been written yet. But, it’s also a story that’s, especially from a film point of view, we have been on the receiving end, in terms of like, we are the ones who, like, the media comes from the West, and tells that story for us, and we consume. You know what I mean? And, it’s our story. The question is, why aren’t we the ones telling that story?
But, I guess with ‘Daughters of Chibok’, which was the first one that I made in 2019, and with ‘Mothers of Chibok’, which is coming out this year, it’s all like flipping it. And it was intentional for me to tell that story, because I felt that the way that the women were being portrayed wasn’t really a complete picture. We all go through different things in life; we all experience pain, and tragedy, and grief, but that’s not the totality of our lives. There are also other parts to us as well.
There’s joy, there’s laughter, there’s resilience, there’s courage, there’s hope. And so, if we don’t present that side as well, then we risk presenting people in a sort of non dimensional perspective. But we’re multidimensional, and I really wanted to present these women to the world through a different lens. Like, look at them differently; look at them as human, not as statistics, as data of insurgency. You understand me? But as human – with feelings, emotions, and dreams, and everything else in between.
Where and when?
We’re working with Film One. So, there are a few select cinemas. But I think I want to keep doing this. For every doc that I make, I think, I want to explore doing a limited cinema run.
What’s the duration of the film?
It’s about 86 minutes.
Challenges?
There’re several challenges along the way. First of all, convincing yourself that you can do this, and you should do it, and considering the risk involved. But then, when you now convince yourself, so how do you now get there?
How do you ensure, safety and security? Speaking with the right people, speaking with the community, finding out, like, who are the people that can support you on that? And then, when you get there, how do you now earn the trust of the women of the community?
Because they’ve also had very interesting relationships in the past, with storytellers, and with the media, where the relationship is almost extracted. You understand what I mean?
Somebody comes into the community, takes their story, goes out there, and never comes back. You understand what I mean? So, obviously there’s a lot of distrust of anybody with a camera, so you have to be willing to invest the time to want to earn their trust.
How do you navigate it?
For me, once I find a story that I love, and I’m passionate about, and I really want to tell, I really don’t like anything getting in my way.
How long were you in Chibok?
It took us three years to make the film. We started shooting in May 2021, and then we premiered the film in November 2024.
We spent a lot of time. We made many trips to Chibok, over and over again. And when you do that, you start to discover things that you don’t get at a glance. The highest amount of time people spend there would be a week, and they’re out. That’s if they even give you a week. We spend three years. So you’re going to see these women in a way that you’ve never seen them before. You’re going to see them as humans.
Why is it so important to take this to the cinemas?
Documentary filmmaking is an art form. It’s an art form. And I think that this is a film that should be seen in a communal environment, that people should be able to watch it together. And the cinema is the place. As a documentary filmmaker myself, the work that we do is important. And there’s an audience for the work that we do. There’s an audience for documentary films, definitely. It might not be a huge audience, but there is an audience.
And I think that it’s important that documentary films are woven into the theatre culture, the cinema going culture and experience of Nigerians. We should be able to do that. And so it’s a test, it’s a gamble. We don’t know, but if we made the gamble of going to Chibok and risking our lives to do the film, this is testing it out in the cinemas.
What are your expectations?
I expect that people should go, watch it, be inspired by it. But I’m not going to the cinemas because I’m expecting any box office hits. I make my films primarily because I want people to see them and be inspired and motivated and just like, ‘oh… wow, okay, I never knew this.
When you make docs, especially the kind of docs that I make, it’s a labour of love, because you really care about it and all of that. Or you care about the subject matter. So, I hope that people will go and watch and be inspired. It hits the cinemas February 27th.
Mentorship, are you looking at mentoring some younger filmmakers?
Yeah. That’s a big part of my practice. Most of the people that are here came in as students that I trained. And then they started working with me. I’ve taught at Pan-Atlantic University. I’ve given lectures in different parts of Nigeria and different parts of the world. I like to teach because I think that I’ve been fortunate to have gotten a lot of experience. I have to be able to share that experience.
I just got back from France, where I went with a group of students that I was mentoring to a film festival, and they’re documentary filmmakers, young documentary filmmakers, that, I was brought on to mentor them. We all went to France together for the biggest documentary film festival in France. It’s called FIPADOC (International Documentary Festival). And ‘Mothers of Chibok’ also played there.
So, yes, I love that. I want to be able to inspire the next generation of documentary filmmakers. That’s why it’s also important for me that the film goes to the cinemas, and plays on the big screen. Because beyond the fact that there’s the opportunity for communal viewing, I think that there is also a big opportunity here to inspire.
How the NLNG sponsored Prize for Creative Art will impact your work.
It’s a game changer for young documentary filmmakers. I’m happy that there’s an age restriction for young people. And it’s the highest prize money for documentary filmmaking in Africa. My hope is that, we can work with them and make it, not just about the money, but the prestige. You know, there are awards that you win and they open doors for you. They don’t give you money, but, they open doors for you.
Like, when I won the Venice Lion, I didn’t get a dime, but I know the doors that it opened for me. So I hope that we can get it to that level of excellence and prestige, that when you win, it’s beyond just the cash money that you get. It really becomes the launching pad for your career as a documentary filmmaker. It’s important that we focus on that, because docs are truth-telling in its purest form. It is life as it is. And it’s an important art form. I don’t think that we’ll be doing ourselves any good by ignoring it, or thinking that it’s not important just because it doesn’t earn as much in the box office.
