Motherland Productions’ “Bigger Than Africa” premieres on Netflix, May 13th 2022.

“Bigger Than Africa” is the first feature documentary film by African filmmaker, Oluwatoyin Ibrahim Adekeye.

Trinidad and Tobago is one of six countries featured in the documentary, as the film follows the trans-Atlantic slave trade route from West Africa to USA, Nigeria, Brazil, Republic of Benin, Trinidad & Tobago and Cuba to explore reasons for the strong and enduring presence of Yoruba culture in these countries, and the role spirituality played in the fight for Emancipation as well as in the Civil Rights Movement.

T&T’s Playwright and Cultural Activist, Dr. Eintou Pearl Springer, Historian Valerie Taylor and our late Artist, LeRoy Clarke, are some of the interviewees featured in the documentary.

Scenes for the film were shot across Trinidad and Tobago at a number of Orisha shrines, pan yards and at the Tobago Heritage Festival.

Trinidad and Tobago remains one of the few countries in the world to have an Orisha Marriage Act and the option for devotees appearing in court to swear on a block of iron representing the Orisha Ogun.

The film’s director, Oluwatoyin Ibrahim Adekeye attended the premiere of the film at the 2018 T&T Film Festival and has screened the film extensively across the world. 

“This is very timely intervention, given that African spirituality is still so negatively regarded in Trinidad and Tobago. I am heartened that this element of our culture will be showcased via this film being broadcast to the world via the Netflix platform”, said Dr. Eintou Pearl Springer.