iREP Film Forum felicitates Director, Makin Soyinka, at 50

AFRICA‘s prime platform for the promotion of documentary films, iREP International Documentary Film Forum, has rolled out greetings to one of its three founding directors, Ilemakin Soyinka, who clocked age 50 today.

The Forum, organisers of the yearly 11-year-old iREP Documentary Film Festival paid tribute to the personal and professional qualities of Ilemakin, son of the Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka.

Ace filmmaker and storyteller, Femi Odugbemi, the Executive Director of the organisation wrote in a statement released today: “Today the IREP Tribe celebrates the 50th birthday anniversary of our Co-Founder/Director, the incomparable Makin Soyinka. Humble, self-effacing but highly cerebral and accomplished. He is the founding Director of the Lagos Film Office and the enabler of many film projects and Producers. Together we have pushed the documentary film agenda through a decade of film festivals and conversations about the space for memory and history in our art forms. We celebrate Makin’s commitment to the cause, his unrelenting optimism about our society, and his passion for building capacity in young professionals! Happy birthday to the great Barollo🎶✨🍷 “

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Makin Soyinka – Producer/CEO, Barollo Productions

MAKIN Soyinka was the Director of the Lagos Film Office, 2007–January 2012. The Lagos Film Office is an agency of the Lagos State Government charged with promoting and facilitating film-making in the city.

Also the Founder of Barollo Productions, established 1993, Makin Soyinka has consistently through Barollo Productions and other outfits, produced television documentaries, radio programmes, drama, music and other stage events. He has also consulted for a wide variety of programmes. 

His television production and consultancies have included clients such as government parastatals, private sector clients, international televisIon stations such as the BBC, Channel 4 (England), Canadian Broadcasting TV, The Oprah Winfrey Show  amongst others.

Makin also acted as a production manager/consultant for the London International Festival of Theatre’s (LIFT) premiere of Biyi Bandele’s stage adaptation of Achebe’s Things Fall Apart in 1995 (for the 1997 edition of LIFT). This involved sourcing for the director for the production and managing the workshop of the play at the revered Old Vic Theatre in London in 1995.

Makin has also worked extensively in music events productions, having conceptualised and produced A Night with WS in 2003, sponsored by Glo Telecoms. This was a night of poetry, dance and music with the Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka reading his poems set to music played by his long time music collaborator Tunji Oyelana. The Night with WS also had the popular Afro-Jazz musician, Lagbaja and his band playing. Other musicians on the bill such as King Sunny Ade, Chief Osita Oadebe and Oliver de Coque did a jam session.

Since 2007, Makin Soyinka has also produced artistes and certain segments of all ThisDay Music Festivals, arguably Africa’s largest travelling contemporary music festival. He has produced editions of the ThisDay Festival in Lagos, Abuja, London, Washington DC, Johannesburg, Cape Town etc featuring music artistes such as Rihanna, Beyonce, Kelly Rowland, Neyo, Puff Daddy, Johnny Legend, Tu Face, P-Square, Asa, D’Banj etc

In addition, Makin has produced the music aspects of all ThisDay Awards  and Ideas Festival Events, featuring artistes such as Dionne Warwick, Lionel Richie, Erykah Badu, Akon, Lagbaja etc amongst other special ThisDay events. He also facilitates the logistics of the world leaders who have attended these events, such as Presidents Bill Clinton, George Bush Senior, Prime Ministers Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Fox, Secretary of State Condolezza Rice, Governor Jeb Bush, Global magazine Publishers, Pundits, Anchors etc

Makin also works closely with the Founder of the Lagos International Jazz Festival, Ayoola Shadare, CEO of Inspiro Productions on his various jazz events.

He has been a long term facilitator/moderator for the “Wetin Lawyers dey do Sef…. For the Entertainment Industry” Nigeria’s foremost entertainment industry workshop which has now become an international workshop with the workshop now held as well in Accra, Ghana and Nairobi, Kenya in 2011. He also was a facilitator/moderator at the  December 2011 British Council/Bank of Industry Creative Expo Seminars in Lagos.

In addition, Makin has worked on the establishment of Community Radios in Nigeria as a conference participant/facilitator and committee member in 2005/2006.

Makin is one of the three founding members/partners of the IREP International Documentary Film Festival which holds annually in Lagos and runs monthly film screenings and regular workshops.