Mr. Fidelis Duker is a veteran filmmaker, media entrepreneur, and the Founder/Managing Director of DA Media Group, one of Nigeria’s foremost media and content production companies. With decades of experience shaping the Nigerian film and television landscape, Mr. Duker is also the visionary behind one of the country’s longest-running film festivals, which has served as a vital platform for nurturing emerging talents and promoting African storytelling. A staunch advocate for creative industry growth, he has consistently championed policies and initiatives that enhance access to funding, training, and collaboration for filmmakers across the continent. In this insightful conversation, Mr. Duker shares his thoughts on the evolving creative funding landscape, the role of local investors, the importance of mentorship, and the opportunities that lie in pan-African creative collaborations.
So, first of all, after running one of the largest standing film festivals, what has changed about the creative funding access?
I think, to a large extent, there are more funding opportunities now. The challenges we used to face in the past have changed in the sense that more areas of the creative sector are being considered for funding. An example is film festivals even the animation sector, which was not really considered initially, is now being considered. Even the hospitality business. People assume that it’s just about making films or producing songs, but it’s an ecosystem where you must also consider things like the tourism and hospitality sectors restaurants, hangout spots, pubs, and all that. These are all areas now being considered within the new funding gap that was created initially. Those gaps are now being closed and covered, and the only way to do this is to ensure the entire ecosystem is considered. For me, that is the new innovation I’m seeing. It’s also more intentional, in the sense that government now understands the need for this sector to be adequately funded thereby creating more employment for people, especially young people. It’s an industry that employs very young people. The demographic shows that very young people are practicing the business people who feel they can’t get a normal nine-to-five job and one of the areas they go into is the creative sector, whether it’s music, film, animation, hospitality, or fashion. It’s the entire creative space.
How can local investors be encouraged to see the creative space as a serious business?
I think they should look at the demography look at the numbers. Any strong economy anywhere in the world, for investors, you look at the young people. This is an industry that engages first, employs next, and also takes young people away from crime. When you look at that as one of the major areas, you see the potential. For investors in Nigeria, with our massive population I said it on the panel that 250 million people is a number that cannot just be wished away. If you add Benin, Togo, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire collectively, they are not up to that number. So, if one nation has that number, it shows the potential for any investor. However, how do we un-nest these innate potentials? It’s by creating a system where we can begin to monetize this number and make it more valuable and important for the sector to survive.
In what way does funding or lack thereof influence storytelling quality and diversity?
I said it “Funding drives creativity.” Anybody that thinks funding is not important is mistaken. Funding is very key. No matter how creative you are, no matter your ideas, if you have no food in your stomach, your ideas will just stay in your head. You won’t even want to do it. Like somebody mentioned on the panel, when you create an idea because you are hungry, you can end up selling a beautiful idea. We’ve had these issues in music and film, where people sell their ideas even scripts and later regret it because someone with funding takes the idea, modifies it, and profits from it. So, funding is a key element. If creatives are funded, they can function and perform well. Like I said earlier, grants are not the only funding mechanism there are loans, equity, and other forms. If funding is available, it makes it easier for creatives to do well. It’s very important.
What opportunities exist for cross-border partnerships between African creatives?
For me, I think it’s very important. Collaborations are key. The continent of Africa is, for me, one continent. What you see in the streets of Kinshasa in Zaïre or Kampala in Uganda is what you see on the streets of Lagos. Fashion is the same. The love for film is the same. Music is the same. You see Amapiano from South Africa, and ours Afrobeats is practically the same rhythm, just with a different flavor. Collaborations are very important, and we must be intentional at the point of collaboration to know what the aims are, what the objectives are, and what results we want to see.
How should the government support established filmmakers to mentor new entries and ensure sustainability?
Fantastic! I think mentorship is key. There are two ways of mentoring. People talk about going to a film school that’s not mentorship; that’s learning. Mentorship means that those who get these grants or loans from the CDF funds whether in music, film, fashion, or crafts should carry the younger ones who haven’t gotten the grants along. Because you cannot do it alone; you need them. That in itself is a process of mentorship. I’ll give you an example. Years back, when the late Chief Hubert Ogunde, a filmmaker, was to shoot Mr. Johnson with some Hollywood filmmakers in Jos, about 80% of the crew were young people in their 30s who are now old men today. At that time, it was an opportunity to mentor them. They learned from the foreign crew that came. Some even picked up filmmaking techniques from that process. So, I think that’s one area.
When these grants or loans come in, you must carry the younger ones along because they are the next generation. You saw how passionate some of the young filmmakers were speaking there their love, their passion for the business. They are the ones you need. When you look at it, you find that these young ones have ideas. Some of the recent developments in the Nigerian film industry came from young filmmakers. Yes, the older ones have experience, but the younger ones brought innovation even in music. We used to have Sunny Ade and Oliver De Coque; now we have Davido, Rema, Wizkid, and Tems young people under 30 ruling the world. Some have been Oscar-nominated, some Grammy-nominated. Even in film, we have Nigerian filmmakers who haven’t won Oscars yet, but their films have made it to that stage. Those are young filmmakers who started 15–20 years ago. Look at The Black Book and other hits those are young filmmakers whose names weren’t known before. So, mentorship is a key element. We must create a system of mentoring the younger ones so they can also mentor the next generation after them.