EbonyLife’s Mo Abudu on Toronto Premiere ‘The King’s Horseman’ and Legacy of Late Director Biyi Bandele

variety.com:

Christopher Vourlias The weeks leading up to a world premiere are typically a time of celebration and anticipation for the filmmakers, particularly when that premiere is taking place at the Toronto Film Festival.

But for the team behind “Elesin Oba, The King’s Horseman,” which is produced by Mo Abudu’s EbonyLife Films and Netflix and will screen in the festival’s Special Presentations section, there will be a long shadow cast across the red carpet on opening night.

Just weeks ahead of the film’s world premiere on Sept. 10, director Biyi Bandele died in Lagos, Nigeria. His sudden, tragic passing on the eve of what would have been his crowning achievement as a filmmaker sent shockwaves through the film community, particularly in Africa and across the diaspora.

When the news broke, TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey paid tribute to the director, writing in a Twitter post: “Biyi Bandele was doing something so rare in world cinema: large-scale adaptations of African literature meant for the whole world.” Executive producer Abudu described his passing as a “huge loss to all of us.” “Biyi worked with such ease in the way and manner that he went about directing,” she told Variety. “We will miss that…and how he was able to understand the Yoruba culture, our traditions, those nuances that are truly Nigerian.” “Elesin Oba, The King’s Horseman,” said Abudu, was the film the late director was most passionate about.