Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka has voiced reservations about the upcoming film adaptation of his life story, revealing his discomfort with seeing his experiences portrayed on screen.
In an exclusive interview with CNN, the 90-year-old playwright discussed The Man Died, a feature film based on his 1972 memoir chronicling his 22-month imprisonment during Nigeria’s military regime. “Let me put it this way: Turning anything in my life into something other people can watch pains me,” Soyinka said.
This is the first time Soyinka has publicly addressed the movie, which draws from his harrowing experiences during the Nigerian Civil War and his time in solitary confinement. The Man Died recounts his detention under the General Yakubu Gowon-led military government in the late 1960s, where he spent nearly two years in isolation, often denied basic materials to write or read.
Despite his reluctance to embrace the film, Soyinka admitted to having played a role in its production, specifically assisting the filmmakers in finding locations relevant to his story. He recalled helping the production team search for a house similar to the one he hid in during the Civil War, an event that echoes his life in secrecy and activism.
“I assisted them in trying to locate a house in which I hid and operated during the civil war. They were looking for something close to what we used during that period,” he said.
The movie, which shares the title of his memoir, is directed by Nigerian filmmaker Bode Asiyanbi and produced by Femi Odugbemi. It features actors Wole Ojo, Chidi Mokeme, Sam Dede, and Nobert Young. Its release is highly anticipated, following the announcement of its cast and crew earlier this year by Nigerian publication PREMIUM TIMES. The film was originally slated for a July premiere.
Soyinka’s imprisonment during the civil war remains one of the most significant periods of his life, shaping much of his subsequent literary work and activism. Reflecting on his time in solitary confinement, Soyinka described it as both a mental and physical ordeal.
“It was a very testing period for me. Twenty-two months in total isolation, denied books, denied paper, my cell constantly searched, nothing at all to sustain my mind,” he said. “I think one of the most cunning categories of humanity I’ve ever encountered is the prisoner. The prisoner has to survive. It’s a survival test, not a question of self-advancement.”
Soyinka shared how he used whatever was available to maintain his mental faculties during that period, crafting ink from dirt and using bones from his meals as writing tools. He recalled engaging in complex mental exercises, such as geometry and trigonometry, to keep his mind active.
“In solitary confinement, what is the most space-economic enterprise you could undertake? The mental enterprise. I made my ink with dirt; I made my pen from the bones in the meat of my food, creating a complete self-sustaining mental micro-world of my own,” he said.
The experience left a lasting impact on the literary giant, whose body of work continues to be shaped by themes of oppression, justice, and survival. Soyinka remains one of Africa’s most prominent literary figures, known for works such as The Lion and the Jewel (1959), Kongi’s Harvest (1964), and Madmen and Specialists (1970).
In 1986, he became the first sub-Saharan African to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, cementing his status as a global literary icon. His work spans multiple genres, including plays, novels, poetry, and essays, often confronting political and social issues in post-colonial Africa.
Although Soyinka has expressed discomfort with the cinematic portrayal of his life, The Man Died aims to bring his remarkable story of resilience and resistance to a wider audience. The film adds to the growing body of work celebrating the life and legacy of one of Nigeria’s most influential cultural and political figures.
