Ooni of Ile-Ife, Saidi Balogun to partner with Brazilian government for a movie project
By Rita Okoye
Nollywood actor cum filmmaker, Saidi Balogun and the Ooni of Ile-Ife, Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi are putting up plans to partner with Brazilian government to extend the culture of Yoruba’s in a movie.
This new step was taken recently when the veteran actor and the Monarch paid a grand visit to Brazil.
According to what Mr. Balogun, told Inside Nollywood, he was shocked to see the extent Brazilians had embraced the Yoruba gods and culture.
“I travelled with the Ooni to Brazil to do some cultural things for African people over there, especially the Yorubas. It’s like our father going there to unite them and bring them back to the roots.
We have about 400 deities in Yoruba land and 200 in Ife. In Brazil they worship Songo and some other gods. They even sing Yoruba songs. They sang the songs for us when we got there. I’m the first actor and movie producer to travel out with Oni.
He took me there, so we could look for ways to beautify our culture. So that the two countries can work together from the pictures angle. The movie makers there appreciates our culture. I was surprised to see how they love and embraced our culture. so we are trying to work together with the government to produce a movie in that regard.”
Saidi Balogun was also nominated as the best supporting actor in Banana Island Ghost at African Magic Viewers Choice Award (AMVCA).