How I Turned Ooni into an Actor — Dotun Taylor

A filmmaker, Dotun Taylor, has said that he decided to include Ife’s Ooni, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, in his new film ‘Take Me Home’ because it is about Yoruba culture.

He told Saturday beats, “Ooni is the ancestor of all Yorubas, and such a character appears in the story, so we approached the king. He is our father and his involvement in the film is to reinforce the message.”

Speaking about what he wants to achieve with the film, the film director said, “The aim of the film is to bring renewed attention to the repatriation of Yoruba art and artifacts scattered around the world. In every part of the world there are different properties of the Yorubas. They may be called ‘art’, but they also possess spiritual energies, desperately crying out to be sent back to their source.”

On why he decided to make a film about Yoruba culture in the United States of America, Taylor said, “Hollywood is not an exaggeration. It’s the movie capital of the world and the experience was amazing. It’s a beautiful new frontier.

“Again, this is my heritage, my pride and essence. I am a Yoruba man first before anything else. I’m also a Yoruba culture ambassador, so I’m just doing my job.

According to a statement previously sent to Saturday Beats, the film is about the search for originality, which led the main characters to question the status quo and take action to discover their destiny.

It is a story of an American family who get stuck when their daughter is (mentally) possessed after wearing an African masquerade costume stolen from Ile Ife, Osun State, Nigeria.

Actors in the film include Lateef Adedimeji and Bayo Bankole; as well as Hollywood actors such as Dave Sheridan, Amber Rivette and Felissa Rose.