Producer(s): Linda O'Sullivan and Martina Durac
Co-Producer: Irish Film Board
Photography: John T. Davis
Storyline: David Hayes
Music: Fela & Femi Kuti
Location: Nigeria, England, United States
Format: Super 16mm and Digi Beta
Running Time: 60-90mins

'The Black President' is the story of Fela Kuti through the eyes of his son Femi and a host of other characters from his native Nigeria, America and the UK. This is the story of a man stepping out from the shadow of his father, who in his time denounced the series of dictators that bled his country of its wealth and its dignity.

Fela also continued to explore and create a new musical sound, a sound that took the political consciousness of the United States and blended it with the traditional rhythms of Africa to produce the hypnotic sound of 'Afro-beat'. It is hard to describe the impact that he had in Nigeria and then on the rest of the world. At his height, his popularity was mesmerising and his views and eccentric lifestyle both unpredictable and captivating.

Five years later his son is continuing his father's vision and has become a highly politicised individual. Now newspaper articles are appearing in the local press denouncing him as a gang leader and a criminal. Is this an attempt by authorities to silence Femi and eradicate the memory of Fela?

Nigeria is on the brink of collapse. History is repeating itself and now the opponents are squaring up to each other. Femi insists that what happened to his father will not happen to him, "I will create an army, I will not be beaten". This film will explore the life, tumultuous times and music of the late Fela Kuti by going on the journey with his son Femi and finding out what has happened and is happening to their mother country, Nigeria.

The Kuti family have always been opponents of the corruption within Nigeria and now standing steadfast is Femi who like his father enjoys musical acclaim in the West but is choosing to stay in Nigeria and act as the critic.

This film is a story of a man defining for himself his father's memory in a country that is collapsing economically and spiritually. It's the story of a man who is struggling to keep his father's ideals alive in an atmosphere of mistrust and rivalry. The story of a man instilling in his own son the values that are important in any culture: human rights and dignity. It's the story of a man who is a musician, taking his father's sound and developing it, creating a new sound with the same meaning.