Veteran filmmaker Tunde Kelani has been conferred with the Nigerian Academy of Letters’ (NAL) 2026 Award of Excellence in Humanistic Practice, in recognition of a career spanning more than four decades of storytelling rooted in Nigerian culture and language.
The investiture was witnessed by family, friends and a delegation from the ¡REPRESENT International Documentary Film Festival (iREP), led by the festival’s Advisory Board Chair, Professor Awam Amkpa, alongside NAL Fellow Jahman Anikulapo and filmmaker Femi Odugbemi.
Odugbemi, sharing an account of the ceremony, described Kelani as one of Africa’s most distinguished storytellers, whose work has shown “how cinema can be both art and cultural memory, preserving language, history and identity while telling stories with humanity, wit and extraordinary visual craft.”
“For those of us at iREP, it was especially meaningful to celebrate a filmmaker whose work has consistently demonstrated the power of African storytelling to educate, provoke and endure,” Odugbemi said.
In a letter dated 31 July 2026 and addressed to Kelani at his Abeokuta residence, the NAL Executive Committee confirmed his selection for the award, citing his “outstanding contributions as a filmmaker, storyteller and multi-talented media practitioner” and his role in elevating Nigerian languages, culture and history through his practice.
Popularly known as TK, Kelani trained at the London Film School after an early career in photography and television, and later worked as a BBC and Reuters correspondent before returning to Nigeria. He founded Mainframe Film and Television Productions in 1991, going on to direct a string of literary adaptations and originals that have become touchstones of Yoruba-language cinema, including Saworoide, Maami, Arugba, Ayinla and Dazzling Mirage.
His most recent work, Ebrohimie Road: A Museum of Memory, features Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka.
The Award of Excellence in Humanistic Practice is one of the NAL’s honours recognising individuals whose work has significantly enriched the humanities in Nigeria.
•Featured image: Tunde Kelani flanked by Femi Odugbemi’s (left) and Professor Awam Amkpa/Instagram