Finding Fela

Finding Fela, directed by Academy Award®-winning director Alex Gib- ney (Taxi to the Dark Side), tells the remarkable story of Fela Anikulapo- Kuti’s life, his music, and his social and political importance. He created a new musical movement, Afrobeat, a combination of jazz, funk, and Nigerian percussion styles. It was also a political force, a propulsive delivery system of Fela’s revolutionary ideas, pitched against the dictatorial Nige- rian government of the 1970s and 1980s. His influence helped bring a tilt towards democracy in Nigeria and promoted Pan-Africanist politics to the world. The power and potency of Fela’s music and message endure today, through fans like Paul McCartney and Questlove, and are expressed in the struggle for human rights around the world.