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By: Manoah Kikekon
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| Tunde Kelani |
LAGOS — Renowned veteran cinematographer and cultural icon Tunde Kelani, popularly known as TK, has voiced his outrage over the unauthorized fragmentation of his cinematic masterpieces. The 78-year-old filmmaker took to social media to condemn the growing trend of digital creators cutting his classic films into short clips for Facebook reels to trigger monetization payouts.
Kelani, whose career has been dedicated to the preservation of Yoruba culture through the lens, described the act as "wickedness" and a blatant destruction of artistic integrity.
The alarm was raised after several of Kelani’s most celebrated works including Saworoide, Agogo Eewo, Ti Oluwa Nile, and Thunderbolt (Magun) surfaced on social media platforms in "bits and pieces." These films are widely regarded as the gold standard of Nigerian cinema, celebrated for their complex storytelling and deep cultural roots.
"A film is a complete story, not fragments for quick views to make quick money illegally," Kelani stated. "This is wrong! Cutting our films into unauthorized reels and posting them online is not promotion. It is piracy and the destruction of our cultural work."
The rise of Facebook’s "Performance Bonus" and "In-Stream Ads" has created a desperate scramble for engagement, leading many users to bypass copyright laws. While some uploaders argue they are "promoting" the films to a younger generation, Kelani dismissed this as a facade for theft.
Under the Nigerian Copyright Act, creators hold the exclusive right to distribute and adapt their works. The unauthorized sharing of these snippets constitutes copyright infringement, an offense that can lead to significant fines, damages, or even imprisonment.
Kelani emphasized that a film is intended to be experienced as a holistic body of work. By reducing grand epics to "scattered snippets," the narrative depth and cultural context are stripped away, leaving only hollow clickbait.
The filmmaker urged the public to desist from supporting these unauthorized channels and instead engage with Nigerian cinema through legal, authorized platforms. His outcry highlights a growing tension between traditional filmmaking and the "fast-food" consumption habits of the social media era.