Shan George speaks on her root,music and movie career

Shan George started out in 1996 as an undergraduate at the University of Lagos in the movie Thorns of Rose which was produced by the late Jennifer Ossai, Emeka Ossai’s late wife. Two years after, In 1998 She produced a movie, ‘All For Women’ and today owns a production outfit called Shan George Productions. Shan George recently completed shooting for a new movie – Super Zebra Man financed by herself, her young lover – Akin and some Spaniard filmmakers and in this interview, she talk about her mixed background – growing up with her mom and her music career. Excerpts:

I was reading about your beginnings and you seem to be a typical village girl. Was growing up hard ?

Not really. I grew up like a normal healthy village girl. My mother was a nurse and she wasn’t earning that much but she made sure I read my books, she made sure I went to school and she showed me so love. It wasn’t bad or difficult growing up in the village. I lived in a normal house, slept on the bed, went to school with other children. There was nothing outstanding about my village life.

Actually, I am trying to find out if you were an aje butter (high class)or aje pako (low class).

(Laughs) Okay, let us not say I am aje butter or aje pako. It should be something between the two. Maybe, aje pomo (hide) (Laughs). It wasn’t butter for me and not pako either. So, it must be something like pomo. I’m a complete aje pomo. (Laughs)

What about your siblings? How many are you?

I’m an only child.

How was it growing up as an only child?

Very lonely. But I was in the village and there were cousins and other relations. We all went to the farm together, went to pick snails together, went to the stream together.

We were always going everywhere in groups. You know, in the villages, they always have these age grades and so, me and members of my age grade always moved together.

I was an only child and it was a communal life. There were always cousins and I didn’t grow up alone. It’s lonely psychologically because sometimes when the nitty gets to the gritty, you need somebody but there was nobody around. When others went home to attend to their brothers and sisters, I had no sister or brother to attend to me.

So, it could be lonely and psychologically, being the only child isn’t the best.

Village life could be tough.

When you say tough life, one can have a tough life living in the city. It depends on what you are doing and how life is treating you. There are people in the villages who are living well and there are people in the cities who are suffering.

Even in Lagos, there are people who are finding things really tough. Some don’t have homes. They live under the bridge. They beg on the streets for food. You cannot say that because one is in the village, it is tough. No, there are people in the village who are really enjoying life more than some people in the big cities. And in my case, I didn’t suffer.

Yes, I went to the farm. I went to the stream, climbed trees and did all those typical things they do in the village. But we had all our food fresh. We went to the farm and plucked fresh vegetables, fruits, corn. Even the yam was fresh. The palm oil was original and very fresh.

Your father is English?

Yes, and dead.

Have you gone to search for your roots?

You should know that in the Western world, particularly the white people, they are not very keen about the extended family issues. And I grew up with my mother who showed me love and took very good care of me.

She taught me a lot. My father is late, and I missed him. I always wished I grew up with my daddy but really, I didn’t try to search for my father’s family until about seven years ago after I had grown up. I tried to look for them but I had a problem there.

When they heard you are from Africa, particularly Nigeria and with our bad image abroad, they would probably think this Nigerian girl had come to ’chop’ their money.

So, I gave up along the line. I would have loved to know them.

You are working on something. What is it?

I’m working on my new music that I’m supposed to perform at the Calabar Carnival.

What type of music is it?

It’s cultural music. It’s like high life.

It seems so many Nollywood stars are going into music and none has had a breakthrough musically. I hope yours would be different.

I hope to succeed. My music is a native high life because all my songs are done in my native dialect. I’m trying to promote our culture through my music.

This ‘Super Zebra Man’ Film. What’s your projection? Is it in the mode of Stephanie Okereke’s Through the Glass?

I’m really hoping it meets up to that standard. But it’s not the usual Nollywood film. It’s unique and I believe success in everything is by the grace of God. What I am trying to do now is my best and then I will leave the rest to God. I pray it will be successful.

When is the premiere?

We have just finished the shooting and we will start editing in January. We are not editing in Nigeria because the equipment we used was brought from outside. We don’t have the format here. So, we will edit in Barcelona.
.....I bet the interviewer was not allowedto ask Shan about her love life..you did hear Akin the young lover,its not the Aki and pawpaw bt a different Akin. but for now enjoy her music