Black Joy Film Fest: ELDER’S CORNER

Come join us for a night of celebration and empowerment at the Black Joy Film Fest screening of Elder's Corner.  Followed by a short conversation with Filmmaker Siji Awoyinka.

Synopsis:
When a young London-born Nigerian music fan makes the shocking discovery that many Nigerian musical icons don’t possess copies of their own recordings, he returns to Lagos to re-record them. This film chronicles the music from juju to Afrobeat and everything in between and its parallels to Nigeria’s socio-political evolution from the colonial 1950s through the nationalist movement and independence in the ’60s. Rare archival footage colors this performance-rich tour through the history of the nation’s music.

Filmmaker Bio:
Siji Awoyinka is a multidisciplinary aural and visual storyteller. Born in the UK to Nigerian parents, he spent much of his early childhood in Lagos and London before coming to the US to further pursue his musical ambitions. His music fuses elements of Soul, Jazz, Highlife, Afrobeat and Gospel music with traditional Yoruba rhythms drawn from his rich ancestral background. His critically acclaimed musical works, among them; God-given (BBE 2004), AdeSIJI (IVY 2008) and Home Grown (IVY 2014), have found appreciative audiences worldwide and continue to garner praise.

Festivals & Awards

• Official Selection, Sheffield Docs (2020)
• Official Selection, DOC NYC (2020)
• Official Selection, INEDIT, Barcelona (2020)
• Commendation Award, RAI Film Festival (2021)
• Official Selection, Blackstar Film Festival US (2021)
• Official Selection, Africa Film Festival, Koln, Germany (2021)
• Official Selection, Trinidad & Tobago International Film Festival (2021)
• Africa in Motion Film Festival (2021) Opening Film
• Audience Award - Best Sounds Feature, Indie Memphis (2021)