Dear Friends of Calder Classics:

We are excited to share a documentary film project for which Calder Classics is a Prime Sponsor. The documentary explores the profound concept of reconnecting with one’s ancestors and celebrating myths from the past. Last night, on February 24, 2025, at the Brattle Street Cinema in Cambridge, we attended the first official private screening of Amazing Grace: YorubaWorlds in the US sponsored by Harvard’s Hutchins Center for African & African American Research in a program led by Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Harvard Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center.

The program honored the revered Professor Wole Soyinka, winner of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature who is known for creating his own literary forms by melding his Yoruba culture with ancient Greek tragedy and myth. The Professor’s love and scholarship of Ancient Greek formed our initial connection to the film project, which was beautifully brought to life by film maker Raynald Leconte, who was also honored at the event.

The screening was capped by a fascinating talk-back led by Professor Gates in which he engaged a panel including Professor Soyinka, Mr. Leconte, and renowned Nigerian filmmaker Tunde (“TK”) Kelani on the importance, spread, strength, and durability of the Yoruba cultural diaspora.

Amazing Grace: YorubaWorlds explores Yoruba and Nigerian culture, its global impact on Afro-Brazilian history and culture, and the profound concept of reconnecting with one’s roots. This standalone film chronicles Black excellence through the lens of Nigeria’s Professor Wole Soyinka, the first Black Nobel Laureate in Literature, alongside the voices of renowned Afrobeat and Afro-Brazilian global artists. Additional episodes are in progress.

Filmed across Lagos and other Nigerian cities, this hour-long episode features Afrobeat artists like Falana, Brymo, Burnaboy, and Seun Kuti, as well as Brazilian icons such as Gilberto Gil, Carlinhos Brown, and Margareth Menezes (now Brazil’s Minister of Culture). Through their music, the narrative leads audiences to a powerful moment of rediscovering one’s homeland. Afrobeats, a global phenomenon, intersects beautifully with Afro-Brazilian culture, embraced daily by Brazil’s 120 million Afro-descendants.

Look for this work by Raynald in upcoming global film festivals. And look for Calder Classics to continue exploring the relevance of Ancient Greek and Roman literature through modern adaptations of timeless archetypes.

Follow the film on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/amazing_grace_yorubaworlds?igsh=aXRkcWxscjNyZW1q&utm_source=qr

CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW TO SEE THE “SIZZLE REEL”!!