WHITE HOUSE PICTURES
PRESENTS
A FILM BY
ABBA T. MAKAMA & BOBO OMOTAYO
A NEW DOCUMENTARY CHRONICLING YORUBA MUSIC'S 100-YEAR JOURNEY TO AFROBEATS AND BEYOND.
ODYSSEY is a documentary film that chronicles a hundred years of Yoruba music history, from its emergence as popular category in the 1930s to its current global domination with today’s Afrobeats.
The documentary will present Yoruba music through its key people, moments, and genres, like Sakara, Apala, Ajiwere, Fuji, Juju, Highlife, Afrobeats and more.
ODYSSEY will organise Yoruba music’s chronological history through two time periods, pre- and post-colonial, and explore the influences religion, particularly Christianity and Islam, have had on the evolution of Yoruba music.
Through insightful interviews with key intellectuals, influencers, promoters, band members, and artistes, the documentary will narrate entertaining stories that bring the force of Yoruba music to life for a global audience.
ODYSSEY aims to provide an artistic presentation of Yoruba music that resonates with local and international audiences in both critical and mainstream circuits; ultimately becoming a marker in time that celebrates Yoruba music and culture, while charting new paths for its growth and relevance for future generations.
SYNOPSIS
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
BOBO OMOTAYO
Bobo Omotayo has 16 years experience in various communications domains. He co-founded one of West Africa's leading Public Communications consultancies that serves some of the world's most recognisable companies, including Coca-Cola, Guinness, and Nike. Bobo's team has won multiple industry honours, including the 2018 CCA honours, the 2019 ADVAN Digital Marketing Awards, and the 2019 Drum Experience Awards UK.
Bobo is a passionate cultural custodian who founded FUJI: A Opera, a dynamic entertainment platform dedicated to reimagining indigenous West African music for contemporary audiences. Since its debut in 2020, it has hosted successful exhibitions and concerts for over 50,000 people and engaged 1m online. In 2023, the platform launched in the UK with a captivating pop-up exhibition in London. FUJI: A Opera has been featured in several publications, including the BBC, The Times, LBC Radio, Hypebeast, and NPR.
Bobo is Founder of The EDE Prize for Language, a first of its kind spelling bee designed to encourage the next generation of leaders to take pride in speaking their native language.
Bobo is also a published author, with two best-sellers, London Life and Lagos Living (2011) and Honorable (2013). One of his works has been adapted for the stage. Bobo sits on a few culture-facing Boards and lives between Lagos and London.
RELEASE
ODYSSEY is slated for release in 2025.
For updates, follow us @theodysseydoc.
STAY TUNED!
Directed by
Abba T. Makama
Executive Producer
Bobo Omotayo
Producers
Papa Omotayo
Tosin Ashafa
Ife Koleowo
DIRECTOR
ABBA T. MAKAMA
Abba T. Makama is an award-winning filmmaker and visual artist from Nigeria. His feature film debut "Green White Green" had its 2016 world premiere at Toronto International Film Festival, since then it has screened at over twenty international film festivals including Stockholm international Film Festival, Berlin Critics Week, and Carthage Film Festival. The film was distributed on Netflix worldwide and Canal Plus.
His sophomore “The Lost Okoroshi” also premiered at TIFF 2019 and subsequently screened at BFI London Film Festival and The Berlin Critics Week 2020. The Lost Okoroshi was released on Netflix in 2020.
Abba is a co-founding member of the Surreal 16 collective and S16 Film Festival. The S16 collective released their anthology film “Juju Stories”, which won the Boccalino D'oro Award for Best Film at Locarno 2021. It was released on Amazon Prime Video in 2022.
Abba’s films have been reviewed and featured in publications like The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, The New York Times, and Indiewire.
His work as visual artist is heavily inspired by film and storytelling, where he uses mixed media to explore themes like pop culture, fashion, and religion. These themes are most often explored through a parody or satirical lens. Abba also has a deep interest in the study of Dreams and is a Jungian Psychology enthusiast.