Recording of TV series in honour of Duala Manga Bell announced for February.

This was during an audience granted him recently by the Minister of Arts and Culture, Bidoung Mkpatt.

The audience was an opportunity for the Sierra Leon-born American actor, to explain more about the TV series. 

Titled: “The German King”, the production, he told the minister, will trace the days of the Duala Manga Bell till his execution on August 8, 1914.

Speaking to reporters at the end of the meeting with the minister, the renowned actor known for his key roles in movies like Lost and Heroes, said: “We are hoping to have a partnership where we can help work with many students in the Universities of Yaounde, Douala and Buea”.

He said the target is to train the next generation of filmmakers so they can have the tools to produce competitive works. He expressed the hope to see films from the African continent feature during events such as Cannes and the Oscars Awards.

According to Adetokumboh, his stay in Cameroon was an opportunity to give out lessons on directing and writing movies. 

“We want to empower them with the tactical know-how to make sure they have the skills required,” he said. 

He also added that: “We want to train these young people so that they can come and work with us during the shooting of the series. We intend to make it long and run for several years and train them as writers and make the next generation of movie stars”.

He further disclosed that: “The shooting of the series will be between Kenya and Cameroon. We are fund-raising for the production of the series as such what we are looking for is partnership, grants, and sponsorships for people who are interested in coming on board”.

Tracing how he took interest in the life of the late Cameroonian hero, Adetokumboh noted that, while growing up, most of the people he knew in movies did not reflect what transpired in Africa during the colonial times.

The films, he said, “made me feel like we didn’t have the heroes who were masters of our destiny, agents of change”.

Back in his primary and secondary schools days in Kenya, he regretted that he never received any lessons on the history of Africa. He talked of having acquired knowledge about Queen Victoria, Napoleon and Henry VIII.

A people without a history, the actor said, are like trees without roots. He disclosed that: “On August 8, 2017 while carrying out a research online, I read this amazing story about Rudolf Duala Manga Bell and this happened to be on the anniversary of his death and I told myself I was going to tell the story”.

Enter culture minister

Minister Bidoung Mkpatt during the audience hailed the actor for taking interest in Duala Manga Bell whom he said was a great son of Cameroon. 

The member of government equally wished him luck in his works to promote arts and culture in Africa and the world as a whole.

On the same day, Minister Bidoung Mkpatt equally granted an audience to the association of former students of, École Nationale D'administration, ENA in France, ACEENA. 

The delegation was led by Nobert Belinga. The visitors donated some books to the National Museum.