There are now more information available about the passing of well-known Nigerian novelist and filmmaker Biyi Bandele.
His daughter Temi Bandele revealed his untimely demise at the age of 54 in August 2022. At the time, the cause of his death was not made public.
According to a report by The Guardian UK, Bandele killed himself in August 2022.
According to the British platform, Bándélé committed himself one day after discussing his novel, Yorùbá Boy Running, with his editor, Hannah Chukwu, and sending her an updated draft of the work.
“On the following day, the 54-year-old filmmaker, playwright, and novelist took his own life,” the newspaper reported.
It continued, “He left behind an impressive and strikingly varied body of work: the film adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun, which took seven years to make; stage versions of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko and Lorca’s Yerma; poetry, screenplays and several novels including 2007’s Burma Boy, which told the story of his father’s harrowing and brutal experiences as a British army soldier in the second world war.”
Temi Bandele, the late Nigerian writer and filmmaker’s daughter, feels her father was happy with Yorùbá Boy Running, his final project.
She expressed that he knew it was going to be the last words that he was writing. “And you can really feel the energy of that,” she said.
“He wanted it to be the beginning of multiple conversations that would happen when he wasn’t here.” This perspective highlights her father’s intention behind the novel and the weight of his creative vision before his untimely passing in August 2022, UK Guardian reports.
The literary and film communities were taken aback by Biyi Bandele’s unexpected passing. Friends, family, and coworkers around the world grieved for him.
The critically acclaimed film adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “Half of a Yellow Sun,” stage adaptations of classics like Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart,” poetry collections, and novels, such as “Burma Boy,” which is a compelling story based on his father’s experiences as a British soldier during World War II, are just a few examples of Bandele’s impressive body of work.
Bandele was born to parents from Abeokuta, Ogun State, in Kafanchan, Kaduna State. He studied dramatic arts at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) at Ile Ife in order to further his love of the arts.
After winning the BBC Playwriting Competition, his talent was acknowledged, and he moved to England, where he established a prosperous writing career.
Prior to his death, he directed and adapted the screenplay for the 2022 movie “Elesin Oba: The King’s Horseman,” which was based on the classic drama “Death and the King’s Horseman” by Wole Soyinka. Produced by EbonyLife Films, the adaptation debuted on October 28, 2022.
