In this exclusive, we talk to the visionary, Seyi Babatope, and get to know all things in-depth about his life as a storyteller and his latest project, Sanitation Day. Babatope is candid with everything Nollywood and gives us strong insight to how the Sanitation day idea was formed.
Red Edit Magazine: Can you give the readers a bit of information about who you are and what you do?
Seyi Babatope: My name is Seyi Babatope, I’m a film director and screenwriter. I’m a producer because I have to be not because I want to be and I tell stories for a living.
Red Edit Magazine: You say you are a producer because you have to be, what does that mean?
Seyi Babatope: In order for my vision to be realized, I have to do many things that cannot be delegated. And if I try to delegate, it would not materialize. I have to make sure it fits the vision and the vision is not polluted.
Red Edit Magazine: How did you get into storytelling? Have you always been a storyteller?
Seyi Babatope: From as far as I can remember, storytelling is what I’ve always wanted to do and what I’m good at apart from playing basketball. I went to school and I have a degree in cinema and television arts from California State University. So this is the only thing I’ve wanted to do in my life that I feel could help me be a functioning and contributing adult to society, be useful to myself and anyone that surrounds me. It’s the only passion in my life that burns so intensely and cannot be extinguished by anything.
Red Edit Magazine: Where did you grow up?
Seyi Babatope: I grew up in both Nigeria and the US. I grew up in Nigeria as a child and moved and had my adult life in the US. I worked in Hollywood as a production assistant. I’ve done everything in Production from being an errand boy to a camera assistant. So I grew up doing jobs around music video sets, commercials, and all other stuff.
Red Edit Magazine: What made you decide to come to Nollywood?
Seyi Babatope: It was not a decision to come back and do anything. There’s a music artist that I had done a music video for in Los Angeles that had come back here and won an award when channel O was the thing. I came for a vacation in Nigeria and people were talking about me and my work, so I started music video works for an artist in Nigeria and that led to me doing some television work. Somehow along the way, I found it more constructive to be here and that’s how it happened. I didn’t even know what I was coming back to so I’ll not be honest with your readers if I say, I knew what I was coming back to. I didn’t know at all.
Red Edit Magazine: Now you’re fully in Nollywood, how has the journey been so far?
Seyi Babatope: Up and down. I don’t really know… I’m not trying to tell you everything is rosy and great always because that’s not true at all. Nollywood is a complicated place with complicated people and complicated processes. Nollywood is not a place for artistry to really exist. It’s a place to make money so it’s easy for things that are truly artistic gems not to be seen here because there’s no value for them. Everything is about how much a person makes which is fine but when I think of other film communities, there’s placement. Like what Chimamanda says about the power of a single story and how dangerous that is. I think Nollywood can be a very dangerous place because of how a single narrative can be very prevalent.
Red Edit Magazine: It’s interesting that you would talk about the danger of a single story when the average filmmaker would look at you and feel you have made it, you can pull together an amazing cast but you are still talking about the limited opportunities…
Seyi Babatope: I understand the unique position that puts me in. I know how I sound when people hear me. I know what they really hear is an accent. That accent they hear makes everything obsolete and they don’t want to listen because what they hear is privileged and elitist. So whatever substantial thing I want to say is not important. No matter what message I’m saying because it comes in my package, people tend to ignore it because to them why is it important when he’s one of them, and they are so wrong. I have had to work my way from the ground up. I wouldn’t even know if I’d say I’ve made it. The people who worked with me on Sanitation Day did so because of the worth of my work and what they’ve seen. It’s not because I could pay more. I’m sure they made way more money from other productions. It’s just based on their trust in my ability to make a good movie.
Red Edit Magazine: How did the idea and the title for Sanitation Day come about? It’s such a catchy title, so what was the deciding factor?
Seyi Babatope: Thank you. To be honest, the Sanitation Day idea started in 2015. It came out based on the frustration I was going through. I started hearing lots of chatter after I had just finished when love happens again and they kept telling me the movie was not Nigerian enough. I had shot the movie in DC and the comment was that the film was too pretty, too elitist, and just had fine people. The comments drove me crazy because to me all I wanted to know is if it was a good movie. They said it was a good movie but it was far from what Nollywood is. They made me feel like an outcast so I said to myself, I need to find a story that can be some WAZOBIA thing. That was the first move on the chessboard. I needed to make the razzest film I could ever make maybe then they’ll shut up with the elitist comments. I wanted to make a very local story. A year had gone by and I had to install a new gate. The guy that was fixing my gate, a welder named Sunny calls me and says he broke the lock to the gate of the famous Ikoyi home where money in different currencies was found. The police showed up at his shop and needed a welder so he was the one who broke the locks so the police could have access to the house. Sunny came back with the video and they had only given him 15000 Naira. Sunny had seen more money in his life than I or most people had ever seen. Then the other idea stuck to me because it was just an ordinary house packed full of more money than anyone would ever see in their lives. That was the second piece on the chessboard. Then around that time, they had abolished Sanitation Day. From there that’s how I built off Sanitation Day.
Red Edit Magazine: What were the challenges you faced making Sanitation Day?
Seyi Babatope: We wrote the screenplay in 2017. Tried to make it so many times but it didn’t happen. They were people trying to sabotage the film as well. I was constantly fighting so many moving targets to make matters worse, when we started filming, the pandemic happened. Everything was such a big deal because of the pandemic. Nse Ikpe Etim, God bless her, was so helpful. . The day Nse got herself to Lagos from London was the day the airport got shut down. She had to get tested, quarantined until we were able to shoot. I was so cranky. The house we shot in had been abandoned for 15 years so we had to fix it. It was challenging to get to the sweet spot of getting what I had to do done and not let certain things get to me.
Red Edit Magazine: Detaching yourself from the film you’ve made, why would you say people should go see Sanitation Day?
Seyi Babatope: I think it’s a good movie.if people want to watch what is not typical of what Nollywood makes. The big thing is done even with the language and stereotypes. I hope people see how stereotypes are really a distraction. I hope people see the common sense of purpose. I hope people see that there’s more that unites us than divides us. So I want people to go support the film Sanitation Day. Good arts beget good arts. We are more than a single story. If people support sanitation day, we’d be able to break that single story.
Sanitation Day is out so you can go see it here!
Related Post: Sanitation Day’s Premiere in Pictures
