A long overdue educational and mesmerizing documentary on the way Yoruba religion spread from West Africa to many regions of the world via slave trade routes: and people practicing it today
B IS FOR BENIN, B IS FOR BRAZIL, C IS FOR CUBA, N IS FOR NIGERIA, T IS FOR TOGO, T IS FOR TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO and U IS FOR UNITED STATES
The tone of this film is a little misleading: initially, it may seem like something being screened at a local museum. But the wealth of information that it delivers is incomparable. At the center of the narrative is Yoruba, the religion, cultural heritage and ethnicity of a part of the Beninese, Nigerian and Togolese populations, as well as the descendents of slaves with origins in these countries. Spread across the Western world by the slave trade routes, Yoruba has become a staple in the various countries in the Americas, where it is practiced, celebrated and passed on to this day. Meanwhile, the link to the roots in the West Africa also remains sustained. Peopling the documentary with the many Yoruba practitioners, priests, enthusiasts and researchers, Toyin Ibrahim Adekeye was able to create an eye-opening portrait of the Yoruba world across the continents. Made with a special emphasis on the local Yoruba communities, including Oyotunji, the first African Village in the United States, it’s a hugely important endeavor to establish its due to the massive wealth of cultural heritage that the Yoruba people have carried on through unimaginable hardship. A source of pride and joy of recognition for the Yorubas worldwide, I hope that this documentary is only the first step on the way of bringing Yoruba heritage to the forefront, as a large and important cultural staple of our world and a big inspiration to contemporary culture.
Bigger than Africa, 2018
Director: Toyin Ibrahim Adekeye
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