Kehinde Bankole Highlights Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti’s Legacy Beyond Driving a Car

A new biopic shines a spotlight on Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, focusing on her leadership in the famous Abeokuta Women’s Revolt, a resistance movement by the Abeokuta Women’s Union (AWU) in the late 1940s.

Kehinde Bankole, the actress playing Ransome-Kuti, is having a significant moment in her career. Bankole has recently starred in critically acclaimed Nollywood films like Sista (2022) and Adire (2023). Her role in Adire earned her the Best Lead Actress award at the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards (AMVCA). She also voices Moremi in the Disney animated anthology series Kizazi Moto (2023).

This success positions Bankole as a leading star in Nollywood. Adding to her accolades, Bankole stars in Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, a biopic directed by Bolanle Austen-Peters, which hit cinemas last month. In the film, she portrays the iconic political activist Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti.

When asked how she chooses her roles, Bankole emphasized the importance of the story. “Definitely the story. Is it rooted in something? Then what is that something? And when I find that something, am I interested in telling the story?” she told Pulse Nigeria. For Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, it was more than just entertainment that attracted her to the role.

“I felt very powerful,” she said about playing Ransome-Kuti. “A very vital piece of history like this should not be hidden. It should also not be trivialized.”

Bankole accepted the role to highlight Ransome-Kuti’s contributions beyond being the first woman to drive a car and the mother of Afrobeats legend Fela Anikulapo Kuti. The film focuses on Ransome-Kuti’s leadership in the Abeokuta Women’s Revolt (also known as the Egba Women’s Tax Riot), a movement against unfair taxation by the Nigerian colonial government.

“It should not just be the first woman to drive a car, Fela’s mom. No,” Bankole stated. “It was a woman who led a movement, led a people, and even at a time, let the people know how powerful they were. There was nothing she did that she didn’t do with the help of the people. So the people at that time, I imagine how they must have felt so powerful because she let them know how much she needed them.”

Through this biopic, Bankole hopes to offer a broader perspective on Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti’s legacy and her significant impact on Nigerian history.