Kehinde Bankole Honors Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti

Kehinde Bankole wants you to know Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti did more than drive a car. Recently starring in arthouse Nollywood films like “Sista” (2022) and “Adire” (2023), Bankole has received critical acclaim. For “Adire,” she won Best Lead Actress at the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards (AMVCA) and took on the role of Moremi in Disney’s animated anthology series “Kizazi Moto” (2023).

This distinction sets Bankole apart as a Nollywood star in her own league. Last month, she starred in “Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti,” a biopic directed by Bolanle Austen-Peters about the famous political activist. Bankole’s portrayal of Ransome-Kuti is remarkable.

When choosing roles, Bankole focuses on the story. “Is it rooted in something? And when I find that something, am I interested in telling the story?” she told Pulse Nigeria. Sometimes, it’s pure entertainment. “If I laugh while reading the script, I want people to feel good too.”

For “Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti,” it was more than just entertainment. “I felt very powerful,” she said. “A vital piece of history like this should not be hidden or trivialized.” Bankole accepted the role to show Ransome-Kuti as more than just the first woman to drive a car or the mother of Afrobeats legend Fela Kuti.

The film centers on Ransome-Kuti leading the famous Abeokuta Women’s Revolt, a movement against unfair taxation by the Nigerian colonial government in the late 1940s. “It should not just be about driving a car or being Fela’s mom. She was a woman who led a movement and empowered her people,” Bankole emphasized.

Playing the “Lioness of Lisabi” has inspired Bankole to see the need for similar activism today. “We need someone to help us believe in ourselves and recognize our collective power,” she said. “If we come together, we can achieve so much.”